Life in the city
by JMctrl
Summary: An FBI agent requests Judy and Nick's help with what seems to be a pretty straightforward case, before taking a much-needed vacation. Upon their return to the city they find it in a state of panic. Little do they know however, there are the only ones that can make the connections to find out who's responsible.
1. Gloomy morning

Gloomy morning.

(Third person POV)

This story picks up on a rather hot and gloomy morning in Zootopia, just as two ZPD officers arrive  
at their precinct. And to spite the less than pleasant weather, they are mostly ready to start a new day  
of making the world a better place. Or at least that's what one of them always tells her partner.

To which he just nods, not really feeling like they're making much of a difference. He thought they'd  
be getting exciting cases like the missing mammal cases every other week. Instead it was just domestic  
disputes, a few traffic incidents, the odd shoplifter, and mountains of paperwork they had to fill out practically every day.

He wouldn't dare bring up that case with his partner. She puts on a brave face, and talks about it with confidence.  
But I know otherwise. The fox thought to himself. The sound of a car door slamming, rips him out of his daze, pulling his  
attention to the passenger door. Where he can see two long gray ears just outside the window. that begin to move around  
to, and finally come to a stop, just in front of the car.

"Come on Nick!" A cheerful but muffled voice calls out. Still slightly groggy however, he just let out a  
long deep sleepy yhan as he checks the time displayed on the radio. Which reads [4:58], just over half  
an hour before they need to be at the station. "Keeping up with this rabbit is gonna kill me." Nick mumbled under his breath.

Even after that long treacherous year in the academy, and being more fit now than he  
ever was, he can only barely keep up with her. "Be right there." He finally replied  
sleepily, closing his eyes to get a few more seconds of rest before a long day. He then starts  
to think back through the four months that he's been on the force.

The few generic cases they solved, the one they hadn't, the handful of times they were hanging out  
with there coworkers. A smile is pulled across his face as he thought of all the times where it was just  
him, and Judy. "Time well spent." He said in a whisper.

"What was that?" The voice said again, this time closer and less muffled. To which he quickly opened his  
eyes to find the ears of his partner just outside his door. He then turned the car off and stepped out.  
"Sorry carrots," Nick started. "I'm just a bit groggy is all."

"But what did you... Oh nevermind. Hurry up were going to be late!" Judy said, to which  
Nick's ears just swished back. "Late?" He started again this time more alert. "We're 35 minutes early."  
Judy just ignored him, picking up her pace as she heads straight for the door of the precinct. To which Nick let  
out an exasperated sigh as he threw his paws in his pockets, and began to follow.

He finally gets to the door to find Judy waiting. "Come on Nick, you're faster then that!" She said cheerfully.  
Nick didn't reply, he just pulled his paws out of his pockets and continued walking through the revolving door.

The fox and bunny, now walking side by side, quickly make their way to the front desk, where Clawhauser is  
eating his favorite cereal, like he does every morning. Since they started coming in early two weeks ago, their  
co-workers still aren't use to seeing them in at this time. So on top of not seeing them coming, Clawhauser is surprised when they greet him.

"Good Morning Clawhauser." They say together without stopping. Clawhauser hastily sits his bowl on the  
desk, as he forces down the spoon full of cereal he only just plopped in his mouth. After a second he finally  
gets it down and calls out to them. "Chief Bogo said he needs to see you two in his office!" He blurts out with  
bits of cereal and milk splattering on his desk.

Nick's ears perk up and swivels in Clawhauser's direction, as they freeze in place like statues. The two quickly  
look at each other, and share a look of dread before turning to face Clawhauser. Judy's ears drop before she asks  
gently. "Did he say what he needed?" Trying to disguise her feeling of dread.

"Nope." Clawhauser responds cheerfully as he returns to his cereal.

"Well Carrots," Nick says. "lets go see what he wants." He then turns and starts walking in the  
same direction they were originally heading. But instead of going to the bullpen, he has his eyes set on the elevator, just across the hall from it.

Judy however, is so deep in her pit of worry, it takes her a second to notice that Nick started walking  
away. When she does, she quickly darts to his side. On the way to the elevator they both start  
wondering what chief Bogo wants to see them for. Where they in trouble, or getting a special assignment.

Judy hoping on the ladder, is now growing curious as to what her partner is thinking. Nick certain they are in  
trouble, or at the very least he is, and Judy will be punished by proximity.

He starts trying to come up with something to say to take the blame off his partner, and make sure  
she isn't punished for something he did. They finally get to the elevator, and Judy jumps up to press the call button.  
The doors then immediately open, and the two quickly step on, followed by two of their fellow officers. One of which  
presses the number three button, closing the doors.

End of introduction.~

The rest of perceptions will be in character POVs.~

(Judy POV)

I can feel the elevator start to move, and I try to look at the numbers as they tick  
up. However the other Officers are blocking my view so instead, I turn to Nick. His expression is calm, but I've  
known him for almost two years now, so I can tell by the position of his tail, which is resting on the floor rather than hovering  
above it, that he's worried too.

The doors open and the other Officers get off first and turn to the left. We follow but turn  
right. As we approach the Chief's office, the worried feeling In my stomach is getting bigger and bigger,  
almost to the point of making me sick. I look down at Nick's paw to see him tapping his index finger on his thigh,  
another clue of his true state.

"What do you think he wants to see us for?" I ask in a whisper as I look up to his face. He tilts his head slightly in my  
direction before responding. "I don't know carrots, maybe it's about us falling asleep in the break room yesterday." He  
says in a playful tone. Nick should know by now that he isn't fooling me, but I decide to let him believe that he is.

I then start to say. "You don't think he-" But I trail off realizing we've reached the door to Bogo's office. I look up at  
the handle on the door, and clearly see our reflection in it. Nick lets his mask slip not realizing I can see his face. And  
by the sheer look of dread on it, I come to the conclusion that Nick thinks were in trouble. Whatever's in store for us, we'll make it through this.

I take a deep breath and raise my paw to knock on the door. I knock twice and immediately hear a stern  
voice say. "Come in." From Inside the office. I open the door to see Bogo, sitting at his desk, glasses on, and preparing  
case files for roll call. He looks up at us as we step in. "Good you two are early again," He states with a satisfied tone.  
"take a seat." He then gestures to the chairs in front of his desk.

Nick jumps up onto the chair on the left, and I climb into the one on the right. The Chief quickly tidies up some  
papers, clicking them on his desk, just before I ask in a half nervous tone. "So what did you need to see us for sir?"  
Bogo puts the papers down and reaches behind his desk as he says. "I have a special assignment for you two."

I hear Nick quietly sigh with relief before the Chief leans back up with a large case binder, he then holds it up in a  
presenting manner, before he starts to explain.

"You two are not to discuss this case with anyone, besides your selves and-" The intercom beeps suddenly, cutting him off.  
Clawhauser's voice then rings from the device. "Chief, a Volin Waterwood is hear to see you."

Bogo looking annoyed at being interrupted, plops the binder on his desk before he exclaims. "I guess you two aren't the  
only ones early." He then swiftly moves his arm toward the intercom and presses one of the hundreds of buttons on it.  
"Tell him Hopps and Wilde will be down in a moment, I'm briefing them right now." He says in a less annoyed tone.  
He then rests his arm on the desk and says.

"As I was saying." He pauses for a second to move his hand to the binder before he continues.  
"Do NOT, discuss this case with anyone besides your selves, and the agent on the case."

"Agent Waterwood?" Nick asks with a smug tone.

Bogo grunts from his nose before responding. "He requested you two specifically, something about having  
the right skill set." Nick and I Share a glance as Bogo starts. "All he told me; is that there's a new crime syndicate  
dealing in illegal weapons trafficking, and he wants your help." The chief then opens the binder before he continues.  
"I would tell you more but this copy of the binder is covered in black ink."

He starts flipping through the pages to show us Most of them have rows of horizontal black lines. The chief  
then releases the half of the binder in his hand, letting it plop closed. "Agent Waterwood will have to fill you in further."  
He says with a calm voice. "Dismissed!" We hop off the chairs and head to the door of the office. I put my paw on the  
handle to open it. "Wait!" Bogo says suddenly stopping us before I can open the door.

I turn back to look at him with my paw still on the handle. Just as he looks up from a folder  
sitting open on his desk to say. "There's a few things you should know about agent Waterwood.

"Like?" Nick asks impatiently.

Bogo narrows his eyes at Nick before he looks back down at the folder. "He's an expert Interrogator,  
and weapons specialist." He starts. My ears drop at hearing the word Interrogator. "His IQ is a little over 110,"  
Bogo continues. "and he has doctorates in psychology, Cultural anthropology and-" He pauses looking puzzled before saying. "Social anthropology?"

Like a question, not really expecting an answer. "There's a difference?" He asks adjusting his glasses.  
Bogo then closes the folder as he looks up from it. "My point is." He continues calmly.  
"He only takes high profile cases, so BE careful."

Nick and I look at each other and gulp. "Dismissed!" Bogo says as he goes back to preparing case folders.  
I open the door and we exit the office. On our way back to the elevator, I noticed that Nick is much more relaxed.  
"See Carrots." Nick says suddenly. "You were worried about nothing." I look up at Nick to see him with his  
usual smirk. "Nick," I start to say calmly. "I know that you thought we were in trouble, and that you are probably the reason why."

His smirk vanishes from his face, as I'm sure he's realizing he can't fool me anymore. "Anyway,"  
I say with a more annoyed tone. "let's go meet this agent Waterwood guy." "Waterwood, hmm, sounds like he might be a beaver or a-"

"What ever he is he sounds like he's going to read us like books!" I blurt out cutting him off.  
Nick's ears quickly swoop back as he puts his full attention on me, Surprised at my outburst.  
I can feel my stomach start to sink, as I go over everything Bogo told us about the crime syndicate.

"And a crime syndicate dealing in weapons trafficking!" I pause to put my paws on top of  
my head, and begin to slide them down as I continue. "Oh Nick, this is going to be dangerous."

"Carrots." Nick says in a calm tone. "Everything is going to be fine."

We get to the elevator and I take a deep breath. Nick presses the call button this time and  
the doors immediately open again to my surprise. As we step in, I begin to say in almost a whisper.  
"I hope so Nick, I mean, one of us could be killed."

"Carrots!" Nick says sternly.

"Okay, okay." I respond quickly in a soft voice. I then press the zero button and as the doors  
close, I step back next to Nick, in the center of the elevator. I can see Nick tilting his head to me  
out of the corner of my eye. "So about last night." He asks casually. "What about last night?" I ask with  
my eyes still fixed on the doors.

Nick then turns his head to look at me directly before asking. "Did you have fun?" My memories of last  
night begin to return slowly. The loud music, and the cheering crowd floods my mind. "Well." I start to say.  
"I think Clawhauser had more fun then the both of us combined." Nick taken a breath through his teeth before  
he response. "Yea, he's the biggest Gazelle fan I've ever met." In one big exhale.

I smile thinking back to the Concert, and Clawhauser practically flipping out. "It was nice of him to  
invite us." I say gently. The doors of the elevator open, and we step out. We then walk around the  
corner into the grand main lobby. Now having a clear view of the front desk. We can see Clawhauser  
talking to a snowy white arctic wolf.

The wolf is wearing a black suit jacket and trousers, with a white shirt with no tie, and he has his  
arms crossed on the desk. "Great." Nick exclaims. "He's a wolf." Feeling annoyed at Nick's attitude  
towards wolves, I hit him in his side, only hard enough to show my disapproval.

I hear Clawhauser and the wolf talking, but there's aren't the only voices in the massive room,  
So I can't make out what they're saying. I'm trying to read the wolf's lips, when Clawhauser's laughter suddenly  
echoes through the lobby. The wolf smiles at him with delight, seemingly  
satisfied with himself for getting Clawhauser to laugh.

The wolf's smile dissipates as we approach the desk. His ear then swivels in our direction,  
followed by a slight glance. "Well." The wolf says suddenly. "I've got work to do. Perhaps we'll talk later."

"Oh, all right. I need to go put these up." Clawhauser responds gesturing to the empty bowl and  
cereal box sitting on his desk. I wasn't expecting to hear that accent coming from a Wolf. Soft, pleasant,  
and the way he pronounced his vowels, It's very clear that he's not from Zootopia. Clawhauser then grabs  
the bowl and cereal box, and begins walking to the break room, as the wolf pulls his arms off of the desk.

He then quickly turns to face us, and the first thing I notice about his features are his eyes. The left one is  
a bright green, and so very different from his icy blue right one. The wolf then smiles gingerly. Besides his  
eyes there's nothing really striking about him, other than the fact that he's slightly smaller in stature than  
other wolves, which is common for a Arctic.

"You look nervous." The wolf says focusing on me. "You two aren't in trouble or anything."  
The wolf then pauses for a moment, raising his brow. "Unless, there's something you think you should be in trouble for?"

"Nope." Nick says Calmly, pulling the wolf's attention to him.

"Hmmm, right." The wolf replies, studying us with his eyes. He then straightens up.  
"Allow me to introduce myself." The wolf says pleasantly. "My name is special Agent Volin Waterwood, FBI."  
He then extends his right Paw. To which Nick quickly takes, as he says. "Officer Nick Wilde-"

He breaks eye contact with the wolf, then glances at me, and gestures with his other paw before  
continuing. "-and this is my partner, officer Judy Hopps." Why did Nick introduce me? I think to myself,  
feeling a bit annoyed. He knows I like to introduce myself. Then I remember something Nick said a month ago, about shaking paws.

"A grate way to make a good first impression is a strong paw shake. You can tell a lot about  
someone from a paw shake." I remember Nick saying.  
Nick is business savvy so he knows a fair bit about this stuff.

"Pleasure." The wolf says with a almost sinister looking smile, as he releases Nicks paw.  
"I'd like the two of you to meet me at my office in lets say about-" The wolf pauses looking up at the  
clock above Clawhouser's desk before continuing. "-ten minutes to 11."

He then opens his jacket, not intending to reveal a gun under his left arm. He then reaches into  
his jacket pocket and pulls out a card, which he then gives to Nick.

"Can do." Nick says with a smile as he takes the card from the wolf.

"I'll give you a proper briefing there. I have a few errands to run, so I'll see you at my office later."  
Waterwood states, before turning and walking towards the front entrance. As the wolf exits the ZPD  
I turn to Nick. "What did you learn from his paw shake?" I ask.

"Nothing." Nick responds with a hint of worry in his voice. "But I'm glad you remembered what I said  
about paw-shaking." He then pulls his lips into a slight smile. I think he's glad to know that I was paying attention.  
"I know you like to introduce yourself." Nick says gently. "But I thought it would be better if you didn't shake his paw."

Nick then looks down at the card in his paw as he asks. "So are you mad?"  
"No." I respond in a similar gentle tone, as I step closer to him, trying to get a better look at the card.

Nick sees what I'm trying to do, so he hands it to me. "Anyway." Nick says. "His office is at 426 WhiteBush Rd."

"That's in Tundra town, right?" I ask looking up to his eyes.

"Yea so we have some time to kill." Nick replies looking away from me, to the clock . He then looks  
back down to me. "Ice cream?" Nick asks with another, bigger smile.

"No Nick." I respond quickly, with a tone can poised of a mixture of annoyed and stern. "We're on duty."  
I then point my thumb behind me. "I'm going to go get the keys to a Squad car."

I then turn and head to the Key cabinet under Clawhauser's desk.

"I'll meet you in the parking lot!" I hear Nick shout.

End part #1


	2. The briefing

The briefing.

(Judy POV)

It's been a few hours since we left the precinct this morning, and we are on our  
way to meet agent Waterwood at the Tundratown FBI building.  
We had been out patrolling since we didn't have anything to do until 10:50.  
Nick insisted that he drive, and as usual it looks like were going to be a little late.

"Can you believe this!?" Nick blurts out suddenly. "The sun isn't even out and it's, THIS hot!"  
I can understand Nick's frustration, the air-conditioner isn't working in this squad car.  
We only noticed it about a half-hour after we left the precinct.

I turn my head to him before responding. "Well they said on the news, this is going to  
be the last hot day of the year. so w-" I stop in the middle of my sentence, thinking back to last winter.  
"NICK!" I blurt out excitedly, causing him to go a little hard on the brakes as we pull up to a stoplight. "I completely forgot!"  
His ears quickly perk up as he gives me his full attention. I pull my lips into a little smile as  
he peers at me through his sunglasses. "Forgot about what?" Nick asks.

"Think about it Nick." I start. "What happens when it starts getting cold?"  
I can see his eyes widen through his sunglasses, as his ears slide back.  
He then returns his attention to the stoplight before responding. "I was hoping you had forgotten about that."  
"But you were so cute!" I say in a squeal, while remembering just how fluffy Nick gets when his winter coat comes in.

"Foxes aren't cute! bunnies are cuuuuu-" He trails off seeing the glare beginning to form on my face.  
I begin to pull my lips into a smirk trying to look as smug as I possibly can.  
I see the light turn green out of the corner of my eye, and the engine revs up as Nick accelerates too quickly.

"NICK!" I yelp as I brace myself grabbing hold of the seatbelt tightly.

"Sorry, Carrots." Nick says hastily. "I don't want to make us late."

"Since when do you care about being late?" I snap as I try to calm myself. I can feel my heart  
racing in my chest, I wasn't expecting him to accelerate so suddenly.

"Well I don't, but you do." I look over at Nick, he's still focused on driving but his ears are pointing  
back and he just startled me, so I know exactly what he's feeling.

"Just give me a little warning next time okay." I respond more calmly, as I feel my heart's pace begin to slow.

"Alright, I will." I hear Nick say calmly. His voice may be calm, but I know otherwise.  
It suddenly gets dark, I was so focused on Nick, I didn't notice us driving up to the tunnel.  
Flashes of dim yellow light fill the car, as we passed by the lights lining the tunnel walls.  
I catch glimpses of him looking at me between the flashes. He must think it's too dark for me  
to see, but I can easily make out his face each time he darts a glance at me.

It starts getting brighter as we drive out of the tunnel, and a light snow starts landing on the windshield.  
Nick turns on the windshield wipers, as I start to think of how to get his mind off of him startling me.  
It only takes a second to come up with a question.

"So." I start to ask. "Why do you think agent Waterwood requested us?" Nick's ears move back to their usual position, and I start to relax.  
With out thinking it through I continue. "The only truly exciting case we had was the missing mammal case with-"

"Try not to think about that too much." Nick says suddenly, cutting me off. "You only just stopped having nightmares."  
I glance back at him, his ears are pointing back once more, and hearing the word nightmares forces the memories to the front of my mind.

Nick snarling at me, and the feeling of fear that shot through my heart, when he snapped his sharp teeth around my neck.  
I know it was all just an act, but part of me was scared that there might've been another nighthowler dart in the gun that we didn't see.  
We didn't have much time to check it, so that little nagging feeling was at the back of my mind the whole time.

I remember the first time I woke screaming in the middle of the night, I immediately called Nick.  
He was still in the academy at the time, but he picked up the second he saw me calling.  
I told him what happened in the nightmare, and after that, every time he scares me he always looks like  
he wants to hide his face from me, even when I laugh at being scared by him.  
I've been trying to find a good time to talk to him about it. I guess now is a good a time as any.

"Nick." I say putting my paw on his arm.

"It wasn't you I was afraid of, it was the nighthowler serum. I was scared that it wasn't a blueberry you were shot with.  
I was so worried that there might've been another one in the gun that we didn't see.  
Don't blame yourself for my nightmares, blame Bellwether. You only did what I asked you to do, so we could get her to talk."  
Nick's ears are now almost laying flat against his head.  
"I know you would never hurt me. Please Nick, understand that it's not your fault that I've been having nightmares."  
"Nick." I say as I grip his arm a little more tightly.

"Alright, Carrots." Nick says breaking the silence.

"You know, right Nick?" I say calmly.

I see his lip twitch as it's pulled into a slight smile before he replies. "Yeah Carrots, I know."

"Well, we're here." Nick says while turning into a nearly snow covered lot, mostly filled with solid black unmarked SUVs.  
The lot is sitting in front of a very plain building, that's very unsophisticated in its design.

"It's kind of small isn't it?" I ask, examining it, as Nick looks for a spot to park, it looks to be only one floor.  
Nick pulls into a open parking space, we hop out of the squad car and head to the building.  
We finally get there and walk into a long mostly empty room, with only a few chairs and tables lining the walls.  
The only thing with the most detail is that they have FBI written in big bold letters above a desk, at the far end of the room.

"Well, we're in the right place." Nick says in a slightly joking tone.  
I shush him, and we start to walk across the room. As we approach the front desk the sound of typing becomes more apparent.  
We step up to it, and find a rather annoyed looking tigress wearing a black suit, and tie.

"Can I help you?" She asks, sounding disgusted with our presence.  
She continues typing without breaking eye contact with the monitor, completely ignoring us.  
I glance at Nick to see him do the same. Our eyes only meet for a second, before our focus returns to the tigress.

"We're supposed to be meeting agent Waterwood here." I say trying not to sound angry.

"He's not back yet, you can go wait-"

"Agent Whiskers!" We hear a happy voice calling from the entrance behind us.  
The tigress surprisingly enough stops typing, and her expression turns to that of rage, and is practically steaming.  
"I hope your not giving my friends any trouble."  
Now recognizing the voice, we turn around to see agent Waterwood walking across the room towards us.

"Well if that's everything, I'll get back to what I was doing now." The tigress we now know as  
Agent Whiskers, says with the same disgusted tone as before, as she begins typing once more.

"Don't mind her, she's always grumpy." Waterwood says playfully, as he stops in front of us.

"Bite me Waterwood." Agent Whiskers barks, as her keystrokes seem to get even heavier.

"Don't tempt me." He respondes to her in another playful tone.  
"Officers Hopps and Wilde, this way please." Waterwood says pleasantly, putting his paws  
behind his back, and walking towards a hallway to the left of the desk.  
We follow him down the hall, around a corner, and stop at an elevator. Above which is a display, that reads [-30].

"How far down does this place go?" I ask, as Waterwood pulls out a card, and holds it up to a sensor.  
It beeps, and the light that was once red, turns green.  
The numbers above the door begin to count up, as Waterwood starts to say. "This facility has 64  
sub floors, 65 total, counting this one." He then looks up at the numbers.  
The doors open finally, to reveal a very grim looking interior. Nick and I share a glance, as Waterwood steps into the elevator.

We quickly follow as he takes the card still in his paw, and puts it up to the sensor just above the buttons panel. It beeps, as he presses the number -44.  
The doors close and the elevator begins to descend. Waterwood stands in front of them, in a authoritative fashion.  
He starts holding his paws behind him once more, and starts to lecture about the history of the facility.

The way he's lecturing reminds me of college professors. I stop paying attention and look at Nick, who is still focused on Waterwood.  
The wolf finishes explaining just as the elevator doors open. He then steps out into the well lit, but dreary hallway and turns left.  
We step out of the elevator to follow him, as we look around the long empty hall.  
The walls are painted concrete, and all the electrical wires run through pipes on the ceiling as well as the upper part of the wall.  
There's a door every 10 or so meters, some of which are open.

"Well here we are." Waterwood says stopping at a door that has the number 1232 in the middle.  
The sign next to the door reads. [Agent Volin Marcus Waterwood.] He puts his card into a slot on the door handle, that clicks as it unlocks.  
He opens the door, then steps in turning the lights on in one fluid movement.  
To the left of the room; is a white board with a map of the city. With bits of string taped to it, in different areas that lead to various pictures of warehouses.

On the other side of the room is his desk.

There are no pictures, it's mostly just paper work, books and a few pens. As we step into the office the wolf's sent hits me like a fog.  
It's not unpleasant, just unexpected. He must spend a lot of time in here.  
Waterwood stands next to his desk, and turns toward us, weaves his fingers over his stomach.  
"So I'm sure your both wondering why I requested you two."

"Yes." I feel a little embarrassed at hearing Nick and I both say the same thing, at the same time.

We then quickly share a glance "Do you two do that often?" Waterwood asks in a chuckle.

"NO!" We both say with our focus back on the wolf.

"You two seam to be in sync, that's a good thing, it indicates trust... Among, other things."  
Nick and I share a glance to express our concern, before returning our attention back to Waterwood.  
Whom at this point has probably gathered that Nick and I can communicate with out words.

"Moving on." The wolf starts. "I'm sure the two of you remember the missing mammal cases."

"We do." Nick says as he starts walking towards the white board.

"Well, I had connected all the missing mammal cases into one big case. I was working on it for a month." He then pauses to watch Nick walk to the white board.  
Nick stops in front of the white board, looking up at it as Waterwood continues.  
"Then you two come in, and find them in a day. I was, and still am impressed." He then puts his paws behind his back.  
Nick is still examining the map. I then decide to look more closely at it, but I'm focusing more on the way everything has been assembled.

The pieces of tape are cut cleanly, and each piece is the same length. As well, each piece is carefully placed on the string without any bubbles.  
The string is also cleanly cut, and the pictures are perfectly lined up on the left and right of the map.

"I am hoping you two will be able to assist me in locating the weapons." Waterwood says calmly pulling my focus back to him.  
I then glance over the items on his desk. Everything is perfectly lined up, each folder, book and pen, is neat and tidy.  
I then quickly glance around the room looking for pictures, but the watercolor painting of a forest, is the only image in the room.

I put my focus back on the wolf before I ask with a confused tone. "So you want us to help you find the weapons?"

"Yes." Waterwood says. "You two found all 14 missing mammals in two days. If you two put the same determination into finding the weapons-"

"So." Nick says cutting him off. "The wolf needs help with tracking." Nick then turns around, crossing his arms with a smirk.

Agent Waterwood smiles at Nick before he responds. "It's not as easy as sniffing the air and tracking down the bad guy."  
Waterwood then walks up to the white board, and points to some of the pictures next to the map.  
"My investigation led us to these warehouses, all of them empty when we arrived."  
He puts his paw back by his side and continues. "Evidence gathered at the scenes suggest the  
weapons where at these locations at some point."

"What about the crime syndicate?" Nick asks.

Waterwood takes a deep breath. "My objective is to find and retrieve the weapons." He says crossing his  
arms, and leaning on the wall next to the white board.

"That seems suspicious." Nick says swooping his ears back, as mine drop. "Why only the weapons?" He asks.

"There are other agents working on this case, they're takeing care of the syndicate." Waterwood responds reassuringly.

"How many agents are working on this case?" I ask, stepping closer to Nick.

"73." Waterwood replies.

"Why are there so many agents working on this case?" I ask, as my ears pop back up.

"I'm sure Chief Bogo showed you the censored case binder I gave him"

"Yes he showed us." I hear Nick say. I turn to look at him, and see him still focused on Waterwood.  
I look back to the wolf as he starts to speak.

"Well, that was one of 31 case binders. It's a big case, and a big syndicate"

Waterwood walks to his desk and pulls one of the folders to him.  
"There's a lot more to this case that I haven't read." He says picking out one of the carefully aligned pins.

"So you haven't even read the entire case." Nick says crossing his arms, as he steps closer to the wolf.

"The parts of the case that I haven't read are irrelevant to finding the weapons." He replies.  
He then begins to write in the folder as he continues. "Weapons trafficking isn't the only thing they do."

"Wait." Nick says. "This is a new syndicate, how did they get so big so fast?"

"Well not new." Waterwood replies. "More like newly discovered. They have been in  
operationfor a few years." Waterwood stops writing, and turns back to face us, the pin still in his paw.

"Can they not just, I don't know, move the weapons out of the city?" I ask trying to put the topic back  
on the weapons since that's our objective.

"No, they can't." Waterwood respondes crossing his arms. "We're scanning everything coming in-and-out of the city."

Nick narrows his eyes before saying. "Everything?"

"It's very important that we don't let them move the weapons out of the city." Waterwood says  
as he begins twirling the pen in his fingers.

"There's something your not telling us about the weapons, isn't there?" Nick asks as he focuses  
more intensely on the wolf.  
Looking as if he's trying to intimidate him into talking.  
My ears drop, as Waterwood looks back at us with an unflinching expression.

"Yes there is." The wolf replies. "However, it's classified." My eyes widen at the  
word classified, and I blurt out suddenly.

"They have classified weapons!?"

Waterwood drops the pen as he darts to the door, slamming it closed.  
He exhales heavily from his nose, and turns to face us.  
"Yes." He says quietly. "They got there paws on classified weapons."  
He then raises his right paw before continuing. "However you don't have to worry about that."

"Oh I think we're going to worry about-"

"They will be more interested in selling them, not using them" He states sternly, cutting Nick off.

"And what's stopping them from using these, classified weapons?" I ask crossing my arms, with a stern expression.  
Waterwood looks reluctant to speak further on the topic, but he then stands up straight as he lowers his paw.

"The classified weapons are still in the prototype phase, and they have a security feature to  
prevent more than one individual from using them." Waterwood then crouches to pick up the pen that he dropped.  
He walks back to his desk, and carefully places it with the other pens, lining it up perfectly before continuing.  
"They can't sell a weapon that will only work for them, and THAT, is all I can say." He turns around to face us  
once more, folding his arms before continuing."I'm not going to lie to you.  
This is going to be very dangerous regardless if they use the prototypes or not."

"More dangerous then being chased through the jungle by a savage panther?" Nick says confidently.

"Far more dangerous." Waterwood replies. "Some of the weapons they have can blow us in half.  
That reminds me, you two are going to be issued firearms for this case."

"Firearms?" I say putting my paws together. "I'm not really the best shot."  
Waterwood squints his eyes at me before replying.

"Well you did get a passing grade."

"How do you know that?" I ask, dropping my ears.

"I've read your file." Waterwood states reluctantly.

"You read my file!?" I blurt out, immediately hearing my privacy had been violated.  
"How much of it?" I can feel my eyebrows beginning to furrow.

"All of it." The wolf reply sternly. "And yours too Wilde."

"Why did you read our files?" Nick blurts out taking a step towards the wolf, balling his fist.

"I needed to make sure." Waterwood reply sternly.

"Sure of what!?" Nick shouts, each word full of anger.

Waterwood then takes a deep breath before responding. "This wont be the first time I've worked with  
officers from the ZPD." Waterwood's ears lay back as he continues.  
"Long story short, I ordered them to run, they didn't, and they got themselves killed."

"That still does not excuse this violation of our privacy." I say trying to control my anger.

"I do NOT want that to happen again." The wolf states sternly. "I read your files to see  
if I could trust you on this case. I apologize for how this makes you feel." His apology only makes  
me feel more angry towards him. We didn't like this wolf before, and I especially don't now.  
I then exhale through my nose heavily, and with it goes my anger.  
I only did I just met this wolf today, perhaps his heart was in the right place.

"That won't-" Nick and I pause as our focus turns to each other. Thinking of it  
now, we do say the same thing, at the same time a lot.

"Happen with us." I continue calmly as we both look back towards Waterwood.

"I know it won't. Now I wanted to brief you two before I asked you if  
you would like to assist me, and now I have. So do you?"

"Well Nick?" I ask looking at him before he replies.

"Well I don't like guns."

"You don't?" Waterwood says in a perplexed tone. "But you were the best shot in your class at the academy."

"That doesn't mean that I like them." Nick says. "They are dangerous, and I wish they didn't need to exist."

"Well they do." The wolf replies informatively. "And there are a lot of them somewhere in the city."

"What are you going to do with them when we find them?" I ask.

Waterwood turns his head to look at the painting before he responds.  
"The more dangerous weapons will be destroyed, however the regular weapons like  
handguns and rifles, will be put in storage." Nick and I look towards each other  
once more, and without words we convey our feelings towards this wolf, but we  
agree it's a good idea to help him find the weapons.  
We look back up at him when he pauses, he looks back down at us once before continuing.  
"As for the prototypes, they will be sent back to the company that created them."

I take a step forward before saying. "You really could've presented the case to us  
better, and we don't like the fact that you read our files."

"I understand." Waterwood responds in a shallow tone.

"Despite that however." I continue. "Helping you would be the right thing to do."

"Are you sure?" Waterwood asks. "There's a very high risk of being shot."

"Yes." Nick and I respond.

"Excellent, I'm looking forward to working with both of you." He then reaches  
back behind his desk and pulls out a case binder.

"This case binder is mostly uncensored." He states sternly. "So don't let it out of your  
sight, and don't let anyone see it. Understood?"

Nick and I both say. "Yes sir." As Nick takes the binder from the wolf. Waterwood then  
quickly pulls out his phone, he checks it, then returns it to his pocket.

"12:02." Waterwood states. "Well I'm going to go get some lunch, there's this lovely new  
outdoor cafe in Uptown Sahara Square, overlooking the sand dunes.

They opened yesterday and I think that maybe my new spot."

He then opens the door to his office. Nick steps to the door and asks. "Don't you guys have a food court here?"

"Yes we do." The wolf replies. "However the food hear is toxic." He continues out of the office.  
We then follow him back to the elevator. The ride back up is quiet. When we exit the building  
Waterwood breaks from us and heads to one of the unmarked SUVs, and drives off.

"So lunch?" Nick asks, as we return to our squad car.

"I could eat." I reply. "The usual diner?" I then climb into the passenger seat, and begin to buckle myself in.

"Where else would we go?" Nick says, doing the same on his side.  
"They have the best fish burgers in the whole downtown area." Nick then starts the car, and we had off.

End part #2


	3. Words over Lunch

Words over Lunch.

(Judy POV)

On the way to the diner, I start reading the case binder to Nick. As we go through it, we find a few censored pages.  
Most of the text on the pages is blacked out, but the words that aren't censored hint at the prototype weapons.  
If we didn't already know about them, we would have no idea what the words were hinting towards.  
We start going back and forth, bouncing theories off of each other about what the prototypes do.  
Nick jokes that they're laser weapons, because two words of the uncensored text read: [overheating issue].

We finally drive into the parking lot of our favourite diner, and I feel my stomach ache for my usual salad.  
We come here every morning before work, as well as for our lunch brakes.  
We get out of the squad car, and on the walk to the diner. I try to come up with a way to talk to  
Nick, about going on a vacation with me, to my hometown. Nick opens the door to walk through, but I dart under  
his arm, and quickly zip through the diner to our usual booth. One of the few in our size.I fly into my seat, coming  
to a sitting position with my paws together on the table, and a wide grin on my face.

"Again, Carrots." Nick says as he finally gets to the booth, and takes his seat just across from me.

"The usual lunch orders?" A red-panda asks, pulling our attention to her.  
I quickly recognize her as May; the waitress that always takes our orders. It's nice to see a  
familiar smiling face, as she holds her pen up to her gives me a sense of normalcy  
after that dreary FBI building.

"Yes please." Nick and I say. Our eyes quickly meet for a moment, before returning to May.

"One fish burger with a Blueberry soda, and a salad with a carrot juice. Coming up."

"Actually." I say quickly. "Can you bring me a Blueberry soda too?"

"Sure thing hun." May replies as she turns and walks towards the counter, smiling as she rites in her notepad.

"But, you always get a carrot juice." Nick says, bringing my attention to him.

"Yea." I start. "I thought I'd try it. I mean you like it, so it must be good."  
I gaze out the window, watching the dark clouds drift past, my mind turning to our meeting  
with Waterwood. "What do you think of Waterwood?" I ask, tuning my attention back to Nick.

"Well." Nick replies. "I don't like that he read our files."

"I know." I reply calmly. "He didn't have to do that, he could of just talked to us." A few seconds go by before I ask. "How much do you think he knows?"

A few more seconds go by, before he responds. "Well, he knows about our Academy records' so... a lot. I'm sure."  
"I wonder what's in our files? I mean, I haven't read my own, let alone yours." Nick finishes saying as he starts tapping his claws on the table.  
I turn my attention to my paws, as I link them together on the table, trying to avoid his gaze.

"What is it, Carrots?" Nick asks.

I close my eyes before replying. "I-I've... looked through your file."

"WHAT?" Nick says in a low but angry tone. I can feel his glare, like the intense heat of a fire.  
The next thing I hear is ceramic plates hitting the table, followed by glass cups. I look up at the  
plate in front of me, and the smell of my salad makes my mouth water.  
My stomach then starts to churn when the foul smell of Nick's burger creeps into my nose.  
The smell of cooked meat always makes me a little queasy, however it doesn't make me as  
nauseous as it did, before I got used to smelling it every day.

The waitress walks off stiffly, probably seeing the tension between us.  
"Nick it's not what you think." I start. "It was before I knew who you were."  
I look back down at my paws realizing what I did, was worse than what Waterwood did.  
He was trying to see if he could trust us on a case, and I was trying to find something to blackmail Nick with.

"It was the day after we first met." I continue finally. I hear Nick exhale, and I look back up at him.  
His ears are back, and he's now focused on his food.

"I was mean to you." Nick says before he turns his gaze back to me, his eyes doing little to hide the hurt and self loathing he's feeling.

"You needed help, and I still-"

"Nick," I say putting my paw atop his. "I already forgave you, and I'm sorry. I should have told you."

We look into each others eyes for a moment, and I pull my paw back.  
I then pick up a fork, and jam it into my salad. "It's okay." Nick says.  
"So how much of my file did you read?" He asks as he picks up his burger.

"Not much." I reply. "I stopped when I found... Well, you know."

"Yea." Nick says. "I've been paying them now by the way." We then both dig into our meals.  
I finish with the one mouthful and ask. "Are we okay?"

Nick swallows and takes a sip of his soda before replying. "Yea Carrots, we're okay." He then takes a  
slight pause before continuing. "You know right?" He ask, as his lips form into a smile.

"I know Nick." I reply, smiling back.

I reach for the soda sitting next to my plate. "Well here we go." I then take a tentative sip.  
It hits my tongue and immediately starts to bubble.

"Well?" Nick asks with a grin.

"It's good." I reply happily. "I see why you like it." Nick then takes another bite of his burger.

"Hey, Nick."

"Mmhmm?" Nick mumbles chewing his food, I let out a little chuckle before I continue.  
"Why do you think Waterwood didn't have any pictures of his family in his office."

Nick swallows, before replying. "He didn't?" My expression immediately goes blank, annoyed at Nick's lack of observation.

"Don't look at me like that Carrots." Nick replies. "You only noticed because, you're always on guard lately."  
I begin to think back, and I find truth in Nick's words. Lately it seems like I've always been watching what I say, or do.

"You're right, I'm sorry Nick." I reply.

Nick tilts his head before asking. "So, do you trust him?"

"No." I respond quickly.

Nick tilts his head back up. "Good. Bcause in my experience, guys like him are only nice when they want something."  
My ears drop as Nick continues."And he wants us to help him find those weapons. I bet you the moment he gets what  
he wants, that's when we'll see his true colors."

"Nick." I say sternly "Don't judge him before you really get to know him."

"I'm just saying, don't be surprised if he turns out to be an ass like that agent Whiskers."

"Nicholas!" I shout, not caring if the other animals heard me, but seeing Nick's ears lay back I realize my mistake.  
I didn't mean to shout, but sometimes Nick can really get under my skin. Nick knows I don't like when animals prejudge someone.

"Don't give me that, Carrots. Don't act like you've never prejudge someone before." Nick says with frustration.  
My ears drop as Nick takes a another bite of his burger. Nick is obviously trying to remind me of how I prejudged him, before I got to know him.

"I'm sorry Nick, I shouldn't have raised my voice at you."

Nick swallows before replying. "It's alright, I shouldn't prejudge. Sorry for losing my temper, Carrots."

"You know." Nick says informatively "Your pretty scary when you're mad." Nick then takes a another  
bite of his burger and smiles at me as he chews.  
I feel my ears grow warm at his comment. I hate it how he can do that.

"Oh, and about our files." I say in a desperate attempt to change the topic.

"Mmhmm" Nick mumbles.

"After I found the, you know in your file. I was curious, and I looked up mine. There's a lot in there that  
I don't want anyone to know about me."Nick sips his soda and takes another bite of his burger as I continue.  
"And your file is much bigger then mine, so I'm sure there are things in there that you don't want anyone else to know about you."

Nick swallows. "Well, Carrots." He starts. "It's not about what I don't want someone to know, it's that they didn't  
get to know me, they just read a file. A file lists off the things you've done, but not always the reason.  
You can't gauge someone's emotional state from reading a file, or whether or not they regret what they did."

"Nick." I say quietly. "Everyone makes mistakes-"

"Most animals past mistakes don't have the chance of landing them in prison."  
He blurts out quietly, before I finish my sentence. Nick and I decide to focus on eating after that statement.  
Once we finished we split the bill, and stepped outside to find it pouring.

We quickly run through the downpour, to the car and hop in as quickly as we can.

"So, Nick." I say sheepishly.

"Yea, Carrots." Nick responds quickly, before he instinctively shakes his head and body, splattering the interior of the car with water.

"What are we supposed to do now?" I ask, flicking my paws, as my expression turns to that of annoyance.

"I think we should go meet agent Waterwood." Nick says starting the car.

"Meet him where?" I say. "He didn't-" I pause for a second when my phone buzzes. I pull it out and continue. "-tell us where to meet him."

"Who is it?" Nick asks. I open the messaging app and respond. "It's a unknown number. It says; [Meet me at 6211 OldVine Rd]."

"That's creepy." Nick says sounding like he knows who it is.

"Who?" I respond. "Do you know who it is?" I trail off when I remember the address from the case binder  
"Oh... It's Waterwood. How did he know we were done eating?"

"Yea." Nick says. "Like I said Carrots, creepy." Nick then puts the car in reverse.

"How did he know we were eating in the first place?" I ask frantically.

Nick backs out of the parking place, before responding. "I don't know." He then puts the car in drive.

I remember what Bogo told us about him. "You know we probably told him things about us without realizing it." I add.

"What do you think he learned from observing us?" Nick asks as he pulls us out of the parking lot.  
I open my mouth to respond but Nick blurts out. "Wait!" Before I can utter a word. "He was talking to Clawhauser this morning."

"So?" I ask in anticipation.

"He has a tendency to let things slip." Nick responds with a confused tone.  
I turn to him and begin to dart my eyes around his face, as if looking for answers.

"What does he know?" I finally ask.

Nick darts a glance before responding. "He knows about your nightmares."

My eyes widen as I ask. "How did he find out?" In a frantic spurt.  
Nick takes a quick breath before explaining. "Remember the night that we were celebrating my graduation from the Academy?"

I think back to that night, and run through all the places we went. "Oh yea." I blurted out quickly.  
"He came back to your old apartment with us and spent the night and." I pause when I remember jumping awake, screaming.  
"I had another nightmare." I continue slowly.

"How much does he know?" I ask carefully, dreading the answer.

"Don't worry, Carrots." Nick replies. "He doesn't know what they're about, but he knows that it, wasn't the first time."

I turn my head to look out the window, as I start to replay the events in my head one more time.

* * *

Some of the guys Nick was graduating with, dragged us out to a bar by the name of Marty's Wild Place.  
And just about every officer at the precinct showed up to congratulate him. "Our first fox!" They would call him, quoting my speech.  
I avoided drinking entirely, Nick however had a sip or two. But Clawhauser, like the other officers, got more than a little drunk.  
And as a result he couldn't exactly drive himself home, so Nick offered let them stay at his place for the night.

It was only just around the corner, a pretty easy walk for a rather tipsy cheetah.  
Nick's apartment wasn't very clean, I didn't really mind however.  
As I wouldn't take very good care of a place that was falling apart either.  
Pots and pans were scattered around haphazardly, catching the drops that fell from the aged and mistreated pipes.

The first thing Clawhauser did when we got in the apartment, was to flop down on Nick's couch, which was the  
perfect size for a Fox, not a cheetah, and especially not a big one. Clawhauser, now laying on the destroyed ruins  
of what used to be Nick's couch, tried to apologize, but fell asleep halfway through his sentence.

"I never thought I'd use the word lightweight when describing Clawhauser." I remember Nick saying.  
At the time I rolled my eyes, but now it brings a smile to my face.  
He knew I wasn't sleeping well, so he let me take his bed. An old stiff mattress, the frame of  
which, bolted to the floor, wasn't the most comfortable thing.  
However I found it easy enough to fall asleep on.

Since Clawhauser was sleeping on Nick's now destroyed couch, he grabbed a few blankets and made a makeshift  
mattress right next to the bed. When I woke screaming from the nightmare, he was quick to pull himself on the bed, to try and calm me down.  
At the time I forgot that Clawhauser was even there, the only thing that mattered, was that I was safe in Nick's arms.  
That was the first time Nick was there, when I woke from the nightmare.

* * *

"He hasn't told anyone about it." I say finally, as I pull myself back to the car, where I'm still watching the rain drops slide diagonally down the window.

"I asked him not to." Nick replies pulling my focus to him.

"Thank you, Nick." I reply gently.

We then go back to talking about the case, on the way to meet agent Waterwood.

End part #3


	4. The wood speaks

The wood speaks.

(Judy POV)

The rain is coming down hard as we pull up to a heavily overgrown warehouse with three massive redwood trees surrounding it.  
I remember seeing the picture of this warehouse back in Waterwood's office, it hasn't changed much since the picture was taken.  
I spot a black SUV underneath some smaller trees, and point to it. "It looks like he's already inside." I say.

"Well lets go meet him." Nick replies as he begins to drive up to, and park next to the SUV.  
I get out of the car first, and quickly dart around stopping Nick just as he crawls out.

"I'm not comfortable with this." I say quickly.

"Carrots." Nick says crossing his arms. "I may not trust him, but I don't think he'll try to hurt us."  
I look behind me through the rain to the door of the warehouse, being lit by a single light above it.

"No I don't think he will either." I reply. "It's that he told us to meet him here, with no reason given."  
Nick then starts walking towards the door. "Well let's go in and see." He says. "And get out of this rain." I then dart to his side.

Nick opens the door, and I step through onto a concrete floor. I look up to the ceiling that's so far away, I can barely hear the rain pounding against it.  
I then look to the wall on the far side of the warehouse, where some of the overgrowth has begun to creep in through the windows.  
"Good afternoon." I hear Waterwood say happily, pulling my attention to him, standing next to a table with his paws behind his back a few meters from the door.

We start walking up towards him, and can see 4 guns on the table. 2 of them are Nick's size, and the other 2 are my size. Next to the guns are 3 clips for each gun.  
The guns themselves are laid out so the 2 in Nick's size are on the left, and the 2 in my size are on the right.  
On the other side of the table I can see square targets at 20, 30, 50 and 90 meters.

"I wanted to issue your weapons myself." Waterwood says as he follows us with his eyes.  
We stop in front of him before Nick asks. "So you brought us here for target practice?" He then starts to examine the guns behind Waterwood.

"It's more like a test." Waterwood says bringing Nick's attention back to him. "To see how good you really are."

"Could you not have just issued us our weapons at the FBI building?" I ask, as I start to think back to my days at the Academy.  
I must've tried 100 times before I got a passing grade, and even then just barely.  
I know Nick won't think any less of me, but I still don't want him to see how bad of a shot I really am.

"This is also the last warehouse the weapons were at." Waterwood says bringing me out of my thoughts.  
"They were here about a month ago, and after you pick out your firearm, you can look around."  
Waterwood then steps back from the table, gesturing for us to begin.  
"We went through this building from top to bottom." He continues. "But you may find something we missed."  
Waterwood then turns and looks off into space. "That always sounded backwards to me." He says under his breath putting his right index finger horizontally under his bottom lip.

I think he's trying to put us at ease, but it's not working.  
He then quickly puts his focus back on us. "Sorry." He says putting his paw back by his side. I look at the targets and ask. "So what do you want us to do?"

"Just pick up the gun that seems to fit you best." I look to the table, and we step towards it.  
I stand in front of the smaller ones, and pick up the one on the left.  
Nick picks up the same kind in his size. We load the corresponding clips into the guns, and pull back the slide.

"That's a G2." Waterwood says pulling our attention to him once more. "Take your time, and get a feel for the-"

"Yea yea we know how to use a gun." I hear Nick say in a annoyed tone cutting Waterwood off.  
Waterwood raises his open paws towards us before replying. "Alright." He then puts them down, and I put my focus on Nick.

Who is already aiming downrange at the 50 meter target.  
He then puts his finger on the trigger, and fires twice; the shots echo throughout the warehouse.  
I then focus on the target, to see that the bullets had hit to the bottom left of the bullseye, but not on it.

"Good grouping." Waterwood says in a congratulatory tone.  
I know Nick is a good shot, but I've never seen him fire a gun before. He looks comfortable holding it, even though he doesn't like them.  
I aim at the same target as Nick did, and hold the gun steady as I line up the sites.  
I fire twice, and the shots renew the ringing in my ears.

I immediately feel embarrassed hearing the ping on the back wall, one of the bullets missed, and other landed on the far upper right corner of the target.  
I lower my weapon, and look to Nick.

"Well, you hit the target." Waterwood says reassuringly.  
My eyes meet Nick's, before Waterwood suggests some kind of motivation.  
"Try picturing one of your fellow officers about to be shot, and you're the only one that can stop the assailant. Why not officer Wild here?" He suggests.  
"You two are rather close." Is the last thing I hear from Waterwood, before his voice fades to the point where it sounds as if he's on the other side of the warehouse.

I stare deeper into Nick's eyes, and my mind begins to run the thought of him in danger, about to be shot.  
I exhale aiming at the 90 meter target, imagining it as a threat to my fox. I put my finger on the trigger, take a deep breath, exhale then fire twice.  
Once more the shots echo around the massive room, and I can see the bullets land in the middle of the bullseye.

"Way to go Carrots!" Nick says to me, I quickly turn to him, to find a exciting expression. Which is an expression I rarely get to see from him.  
I smile back before hearing Waterwood say. "Yes well done." In a half congratulatory tone, followed by."Carrots?" In a more perplexed sounding tone.  
Nick's smile dissipates, as he looks up behind me, towards Waterwood.  
I then spin around to face the wolf as well.

"Nick called me that." I start to say. "As a insult when we first met, but as we became friends it turned into a nickname."

"So you two didn't get along at first?" Waterwood asks tilting his head?

"No." Nick replies, trying to disguise the shamans voice.

"Sorry, touchy subject, I shan't pry." Waterwood says as he turns to the table.  
"Shan't?" We both ask, as we watch him pick up the gun case at his feet, and places it on the table.  
"It's a word." He starts to say. "Or rather, a contraction of the words shall and not."|  
Nick and I look at each other, then back at Waterwood. He pauses looking back at us to see that we're staring at him.  
"Are you comfortable with your choice of firearm?" He asks.

We look down at the guns in our paws then back at the wolf before replying. "Yes."

"Good, I'll put the other two guns back in my SUV. You two can look around." He says packing the other guns into the case.  
Waterwood takes the weapon's case back to his SUV. We hear the door close as we look at the table, and see two holsters next to the spare clips that he left for us.  
We look at each other, then pick them up, and put them on our belts. I put the spare clips in the spare clips slots on my holster, and slide the gun into it's slot.  
We then start to look around the warehouse. Nick walks towards the targets, and I feel something other than dirt and concrete under my paws, so I look down.

I pull out my phone and press the power button to make the screen turn on to get a better look. It appears to be wood splinters.  
"Nick!" I call out still examining the splinters.

"Yea Carrots?" I hear Nick reply from across the massive room. I look up towards him to say. "I found some wood splinters."  
Nick then starts walking to me.

"It's from a old oakwood crate." I unexpectedly hear Waterwood say. "The splinters were found at every warehouse the weapons were at."  
I turn to the door to see Waterwood leaning on the wall with his arms crossed.

"I didn't hear you come back in." I say as I turn to Nick, who is still on his way back.  
I look back at Waterwood to see him walking towards me as well. "You were focused." The wolf says. "I didn't want to disturb you."

"So what are we going to do run a DNA test on it?" Nick asks sarcastically, as he stops by my side.

Nick looks up at Waterwood with his old smirk. Waterwood might not be able to, but I can still read him.  
I then remember a case that officer Wolford was talking about last week.  
He was joking about wood splinters not being helpful.

"You okay Carrots?" Nick says pulling my attention to him.

"There was a leopard that turned up dead a week ago, he had some oakwood splinters in the fur on his paws."

"What was his name?" Waterwood asks. I then turn my attention back to him before applying. "It wasn't our case-"

"Michael Flik." Nick says suddenly. "His name was Michael Coal Flik." I look back at him to see his ears laying back.

"Nick are you okay?" I ask putting my paw on his shoulder.

"Yea, I'm fine." Nick says as his smirk returns. "He was a nice guy, but he didn't know how to stop talking.  
If I remember correctly the case went cold."  
I pull my paw away, and turn my head back to Waterwood to find him deep in thought.  
My attention is returned to Nick when he says. "So we are going to test the splinters and see if they match the ones from Flik's paws?"

"Well done." Waterwood says pulling our attention to him. "This is precisely why I asked the two of you to assist me."

"We'll need some of these splinters" He says kneeling down and pulling a plastic evidence bag from his jacket.  
He picks up some of the splinters with tweezers, and puts them in the bag.  
He stands back up, and holds it out to me, as he says. "Here." I take the bag from his paws before he continues.  
"That case is ZPD jurisdiction, if the splinters are from the crate, then we can link the cases."  
We all walk out together, Waterwood gets into his SUV, but doesn't drive off this time. Me and Nick get in to our squad car and drive to our ZPD precinct.  
Nick and I park the squad car, and head to the ZPD's forensics lab.

We find Doctor Keys, and ask her to compare the oakwood splinters from the warehouse, to the ones found on Flik's paws, to see if they match.  
She says it will take till noon tomorrow to get the results.

"Well nothing to do till tomorrow" Nick says as we walk out of the forensics lab. We then walk out to Nick's car.  
I let out a yawn as I close the door on my side and say. "Well we have the rest of the day to ourselves."  
Nick starts the car and looks to me. "So let's go change out of our uniforms and-"

"Actually." I start to say "I'm kind of tired, so I would like to get some sleep." Nick smiles before replying. "Sure thing Carrots."

End part #4


	5. Early morning secrets

Early morning secrets.

(Judy POV)

I slowly become aware of my firm bed beneath my side, and my soft warm blanket above me.  
I tilt my head up, opening my right eye. It Struggles to focus at first, but after a moment I can make out the numbers on my clock sitting on the windowsill.  
My gaze then continues up, the sun's light has just started to fill the sky with a warm glow.  
Even now the top of the tallest skyscrapers are basking in its light, reflecting it back into our darkened apartment.  
The strength to keep my eye open fades, as I sink back into the warm mass behind me.

I can feel myself begin to drift, when a familiar song starts playing.  
I'm about ready to dismiss it, not yet fully understanding why it has suddenly started playing.  
When the mass behind me moves in it's direction, my eyes open, to see a red arm grabbing the source of the song.  
I finally become conscious enough to realize that it was Nick's phone receiving a call.  
"Who's calling at 6:37 in the morning?" I mumble with annoyance.

I hear a yawn, followed by. "It's Waterwood." In a similar brisk of annoyance.

"See what he wants." I say, fighting through a yawn of my own.  
I roll over to face him, as the song turns to silence.

"This better be important-"

"Good morning Nicholas!" Waterwood's voice blasts from the phone like a Canon, causing Nick to jerk it from his ear. "How are you doing this fine morning?"  
He rolls his head to me, as he returns the phone to his ear, giving me a look that says; grate a morning animal.

"Since when are we on a first name bases?" Nick asks.

"Just being friendly." I hear Waterwood reply. "Sorry to wake you, but I was hoping to come by your apartment to go over the late Mr. Flik's file."  
Nick's eyes then widen at the request.

"My apartment?" Nick replies calmly, pushing himself up into a sitting position. The blanket we share topples off his torso revealing his bare chest.  
He then looks down to me, asking for help. A request I ignore, I can't risk Waterwood hearing my voice.  
Since Nick and I are obviously going to have to meet agent Waterwood somewhere, I might as well prepare for the day.

I sluggishly slide off the bed, and make my way towards the close rack, just to the right of the door.  
"Why do you need my help to go over his file?" Nick asks, as I hear him slide to the edge of the bed.

"You knew him, s- thought you could fill in the -s in his file." I barely hear Waterwood say. My ability to hear the other side of the conversation is fading with every step.

"Can we meat somewhere instead?" Nick asks, as I start to grab my police uniform off the rack.  
"Well where can we meat then?" Nick asks, seemingly losing patience.

I then hear some mumbling coming from the phone, and a few sharp S sounds.  
"Alright." I hear Nick reply. "I'll go pick up Judy, and we'll be there in a bit." The next thing I hear is a beep, followed by foot steps getting closer.  
"And I was hoping to sleep in today." Nick says, as he comes to stand beside me.  
"You know Carrots." Nick says, beginning to rummage through the close rack. "That wolf mite bust us."

"Or, he mite not." I respond quickly trying to reassure him. "We've always been-" I pause when another song rings through the apartment, this time coming from my phone.  
I barrel over to find the label [Agent Wolf] sprawled across my screen, the label I set for Waterwood. I press the green answer button, and without warning.

"Good morning Judith! How are you doing this fine morning!?" Waterwood's voice blasts out of my phone causing me to jerk it from my ear. Something I should have foreseen.  
Immediately feeling annoyed at hearing my true first name being broadcast through the apartment, I respond in annoyance. "Good morning, Volin."  
Some small part of me hoping to provoke the same annoyed feeling I received.

"Just letting you know Nicholas will be showing up at your apartment to get you soon, so prepare, get ready, whatever it is you do. And where something inconspicuous.  
As in, something other than your uniform please. We may need to keep a low profile today. That should be everything, see you in a bit."  
The words spill out of the phone with such speed, I barely have time to comprehend half of what he said, by the time he hung up.

"It should be a crime for someone to have that much energy this early in the morning." I hear Nick say pulling my attention to him, as he makes his way towards me.  
I used to have that much energy in the morning, however Nick wouldn't know that.  
Nick grabs his suitcase that he has yet unpacked, and sits it on top of the desk he had just pulled it from under.

I clip our badges onto our badge belt clips, before returning to the rack, and begin to pick out something; inconspicuous, as Waterwood put it.  
That also explains why Nick was disregarding his police uniform while rummaging through the rack.  
However I decide on a dark gray business shirt, and trousers.  
I take the utility belt off of my uniform to use on the trousers, as I hear Nick exit the apartment.  
He returns sometime later, damp and wearing brown trousers, a blue business shirt with a gray jacket.

"What do you think, Carrots?" Nick asks, stretching out his arms in a presenting manner.

I smile, looking my fox up and down, before giving my thoughts. "The thought of seeing you in this all day, is making me a very happy bunny."

"Oh, is that so?" He replies pulling his lips into a smirk.  
I begin walking up to him slowly, making sure that I'm putting more emphasis on my hip swinging.  
However, just before I get within two steps of him, I dart around his side, and zip out the door as quickly as I can.  
I can't help but smile thinking what Nick's face must look like, as I dash down the hallway.  
When I get back to the room I find Nick grumpily waiting for me.

He's ready to go, so I put my badge and gun holster on my belt, making sure their hidden well.  
On the way out, Nick grabs the key to his car, as I grab my overcoat, and the key to our apartment.  
We walk to the elevator at the end of the hall, and Nick presses the call button. It's only a few seconds before the doors open.  
As we step in, Nick presses the button for the lobby.  
We then turn to face the doors as they close. I look up to Nick, and realize that there's something that I haven't yet done today.

I dash in front of him throwing my arms around his neck, and press my lips to his.  
Nick seems surprised to find me examining his K9s with my tongue, but he relaxes into it, putting his  
paws on my back and waist. Kissing Nick in the morning is one my favorite things about him living with me.  
We can't show affection for one another during the day, for two reasons.

The first one is; during the day were usually on duty, and need to be focusing on work, instead of each other.  
I can't risk jeopardizing my childhood dream, and everything I've worked for my entire life, for one animal.  
Even if that one animal is Nick, my Nick.

The second reason is: it's against regulation for two officers to be partners, and be romantically involved with each other.  
At least that's the only two I could tell him, I'm not sure how he would react to the third.  
It seems like an hour has passed, by the time the elevator starts to move.  
I pull myself away, and return to the space by his side.

"Wow, Carrots." Nick says, still focused on the doors, with a newly formed smile on his face.  
I weave my fingers through his, and we grip each others paw tightly for the rest of the way down. As the number gets to zero we release our grip.  
Two animals are standing at the doors as they open. They step aside to let us get off. We thank them, as we step out into the lobby, and make our way to the door.

We try to keep our relationship secret at work, and so far no one there knows, I think.  
However it's hard to do that here with how thin the walls are.  
I begin to grow worried that Nick is right about agent Waterwood busting us.  
He seems very keen on observing how Nick and I interact.

I can tell by the way he snuck back in the warehouse without making a sound.  
You have to be trying really hard to be quiet, for a bunny not to hear you.  
A thought dashs through my head; does he know? No. He can't. I mean, I don't think so.  
Surely he would've asked, or said something at the least.

"Damn it." I say under my breath, only half aware of the fact that I did.  
I'm so distracted, thinking of all the little hints that Waterwood could have picked up on.  
I begin hoping that Nick didn't hear me, but the likelihood of that is rather low.  
So when we get to Nick's car: a small red convertible. I climb in first, and wait for him to ask.

"So what was that about?" Nick asks, starting the car.  
I think of what to say to him, and I settle on telling him the truth as I always do.  
I turn to find him looking at me, and I start to explain. "I'm just worried about that wolf finding out, and-"

"Judy." Nick says, stopping me before I say another word. "Whatever happens, we will be fine." He continues in the most gentle voice I've ever heard him speak in.  
Nick leans to me, and puts his paw on mine before saying. "You know, right?"

I look deep into his eyes, before demanding. "I want to hear you say it."

His smile widens slightly, before replying. "I love you Carrots. And so what if he finds out, not him, or anyone can break us up."  
"If he does, and reports us to Bogo, the only thing he can do is assign us different partners. No one can take what we have, from us."

It's nice to see this side of Nick, but I see an opportunity. "You Foxs are so emotional." I then pull my lips into a smirk, as his expression goes blank.

"Ha ha." Nick says sarcastically, as he starts leaning back up. I stop him by grabbing his jacket, and pull him back to me.  
Our lips meet for a second, then part. After a moment I release my grip.

"We really need some time off." Nick says, reminding me about that vacation.

"Oh, Nick I've been thinking about the two of us taking a vacation together." I blurt out suddenly, startling him in the process.

We drive out of the lot, as Nick replies. "A vacation! To wear?"

"BunnyBorough." I reply.  
Nick gives me a weird look, before turning his focus back to the road.

"Are you sure, Carrots?" Nick replies, probably thinking about how meeting my parents is going to go.  
Or more likely them finding out where together.

"You know Carrots." Nick begins. "A little vacation would be a nice start, but there are other things we need."

"Like what?" I ask, trying to form a list when Nick replies.

"Well a new apartment for one. The one we're in now is far too small, and we don't get any privacy in there.  
That gazelle couple is so nosy, and loud, and obnoxious, and..."  
Nick continues on, as I start thinking of all the times those two bug us when we start getting affectionate.  
"Hey Fox. You finally gonna devour that bunny tonight?" or. "You gonna get in that foxhole tonight!?"  
Being a few of their most memorable comments.

I sometimes wonder if they spent half the day trying to come up with these, they always seem to have at least one new one every night.

"Oh and Carrots" Nick says, pulling my focus back to him. "About the way you've been looking at me, when were alone."

I immediately feel my cheeks and ears begin to burn. I was hoping he didn't notice.  
I then start to apologize. "Yea, I-I'm sorry Nic-"

"No no, It's okay." Nick starts. "It's just... I wanted to let you know that.. You don't have to be so shy."

"So where are we going?" I ask, out of desperation to change the subject.

"We have to talk about this at some point, Carrots." Nick says disregarding my question.

"We will Nick, just not now." I begin to reply. "Talking about something like that before meeting someone with a keen since of smell, isn't really the best idea.  
Especially if we're trying to keep our relationship secret from him."

Nick gives a slight nod, before finally answering my question. "Waterwood asked us to meet him at his place."  
An answer I am surprised at. I wouldn't have expect Waterwood to invite us to his home.  
I mean I wouldn't invite him to mine and Nick's apartment.  
However we've been living together for two weeks now, I'm sure Nick's sent would be more than a little noticeable.

I turn on the radio, and flip through the presets hoping one of them is playing something good.  
Likely we catch [believer] just as the song begins. Nick and I share a quick glance, and like that, agree to let it play.  
I lose myself in the song, trying to suppress my primitive urges.

When we finally arrive I lower the volume on the radio, before asking. "Do we have the right place?"

"Yea, this is the address he gave me." Nick replies.  
The driveway leads into a circular roundabout with a sleek stone fountain in the middle.  
I then turn my attention to the house, which is very sleek and sharp in its design. I've only ever seen pictures of modern homes like this one.  
"There's no way the FBI pays this well." Nick states. We drive partially through the round driveway before stopping.

I'm still examining the architecture as we get out, and walk to the front door.  
It's a combination of a clean white material, and flat stone. Nick presses the doorbell pulling my attention to it, as it dings through the house.

It's only a moment before the door opens. "Good morning!" Waterwood says happily emerging from the door. "Please come in." He then opens the door further to let us in.  
He then turns on heel and zooms by a staircase leading up to a walkway.  
Which he darts under, before ducking into a corner to the right.  
We step in slowly as we start looking around, and I hear the door close by it's self behind us.

The walls are a clean white material, similar to the one on the outside, and the floor is a white reflective tile.  
I see Waterwood walk down the hallway to the right. We walk by the stairs to follow when he returns from the hall with a folder, and continues to the left.  
"This way Please." He says happily walking behind a corner, and out of view once more.  
We follow around the corner, and find him sitting on a couch, which is similar to the architecture of the house.

The folder is now sitting on a glass table in front of Waterwood, next to a white tee cup with a steaming dark fluid in it.  
We walk over, and sit on the couch adjacent from him. I put my attention back on Waterwood and start to say. "Aumm, so Before we start going over the file."  
I pause for a moment to start scanning the room. Everything is sleek and sharp, even the fire place at the far end of the room to the left of us.  
I was hoping there would be pictures somewhere, but there isn't even one. "Can we talk?" I finally continue, returning my focus to Waterwood again.

"Talk about?" Waterwood asks gingerly as he picks up his cup, to take a sip.

I wait for him to finish with his tea before replying. "You've read our files, but we don't know anything about you."

He gestures with his free paw, before saying. "Alright, you two can ask a question each."

I look at Nick, then back at Waterwood, and ask. "I noticed you don't have any pictures anywhere. First in your office, now here. Why is that?"  
Waterwood's ears lay back, and I notice he starts rubbing his thumb on the base of his ring finger. My heart begins to sink.  
Of all the reasons, I never considered that he's lost someone.

"Painful memories." He replies calmly, realizing what he's doing with his thumb, and immediately stops.  
"Now Wilde, your question."

I look to Nick, just as he begins to ask. "It's pretty clear that you're loaded. So where do you get all this money from?  
There's no way the FBI pays this well."

"It's family money." Waterwood replies. He then glances at the small white steaming cup in his paw.  
"Oh I forgot, would either of you like something to drink?"

"Do you have Coffee?" Nick asks.

"No I don't, sorry." Waterwood responds as he sits his cup on the table. He then stands up, and starts walking around the couch.  
"I have tee, fruit juice, and soda." He says as he walks to the kitchen.

He opens a cabinet and pulls out two glass cups. I look at Nick knowing what he's going to ask. "Do you have blueberry soda?"  
I then smile at him; I know my fox so well.  
I look back at Waterwood just as he answers. "Sorry no, but I do have strawberry soda." Waterwood then starts walking to the fridge.

"That will do." Nick says reluctantly.

"Same for you Hopps?" Waterwood asks, as he putts his paw on the handle of the fridge. I then hear the seal break as the door opens.  
I look down at the folder as I hear Waterwood pouring our drinks. The folder is not as big as I thought it would be.  
Mine is twice this size, and Nick's is three times as big as that. This of course leading me to believe that Flik couldn't have been much older than 18.

I then start to think about how Nick must be feeling. I know he doesn't actually know everyone, but Still I should have expected that there would be a case where Nick knew the victim.  
It must be hard for him, things like this don't exactly get easier. I then turn my gaze to him.  
He's focusing intensely on the folder, and his ears are laying back. I glance at Waterwood as he returns the soda to the fridge.

"Nick." I say quietly as I turn back to him, and put my paw on his. "I'm here." He looks at me, and smiles. "I know Carrots, think you." He responds just as quietly.  
I pull my paw back before Waterwood can see. I then look to him once more just as he closes the fridge.  
He picks up the cups and walks back to the couch. He places the cups in front of us before taking his seat.

We start going over the file. Nick doesn't show it, but he's not happy about digging through the life of someone he knew.  
I have the idea to go over Flik's credit card purchases, and we find that he spent a lot of time around the northern rainforest district before he died.  
Flik lived in Savannah central, so he must've been working. We look at the warehouses in the area he spent the most time in.  
Only three are big enough to fit the bill. The first one collapsed last year, the second one is under repair, and the last one is owned privately.

"That's got to be it!" Waterwood says excitedly. "I hope there still there." He gets up and grabs the file. "I'll go put this back in my study."

Waterwood walks back down the hall, and ducks into a room to the left. He comes back and Stands behind the couch.

"What about the wood splinters?" Nick asks.

"If they match then we can get a warrant. Till then we can go scope the place."  
"I noticed your car is only a two seater, so perhaps we should take my SUV instead." Waterwood then starts walking to a door to the left of the kitchen.  
We hop off the couch, and follow him down a hall, which leads to a garage. The garage can hold six cars, but there are only two, his unmarked SUV, and a rad Furroari.  
I can tell from the amount of dust on it, that it hasn't been driven in a while.

Waterwood gets in the drivers seat of the SUV, as we get in the back.  
The garage door opens, and the SUV begins to move.  
I find it strange that I didn't hear the engine turnover. Nick doesn't seem to even notice. However I remember what he said yesterday at lunch.  
I'm always on alert. I'm so afraid that we're going to get caught.

End part #5


	6. Old friend

Old friend.

(Judy POV)

As we get on the road, I suddenly begin to feel tired.  
Is it the motion of the car? I think to myself.  
I decide to close my eyes for a moment, in a futile attempt to catch up on months of sleep.

"You alright back there?" I hear Waterwood ask, snapping me back to a state of alertness.

"Where fine. Why do you ask?" I try to reply calmly, however it did seem like I was trying to hard to stay calm.  
I turn my attention to the rear view mirror, just in time to catch him glance at me through it.

"You just seem tired is all." He states in a slightly more gentle tone then I'm used to hearing from him.

"Carrots, you okay?" I hear Nick ask, pulling my gaze to him.  
At the moment my eyes meet his, the mask I had been wearing shatters.

"Alright, I admit. I'm a little tired." I feel the car come to a stop as Waterwood responds. "Well, take a nap. We have a ways to go."  
In a tone filled with reassurance, however I'm not reassured of anything.

"I'm fine." I say, throwing my face into my paws.  
I begin to rub my eyes slightly attempting to remove whatever's weighing down my eyelids.

"Hopps." I hear Waterwood say in a very gentle and nurturing tone. I'm almost stunned to hear it.  
"If you're tired, it could hinder your performance. So Please, take a nap, Wilde will wake you when we get there."  
I'm more than a little surprised to hear how nurturing his voice was. He must of been a father.  
Did he lose them to?

I'm finding it harder to keep my focus on a single topic.  
Waterwood is right, I need to be well rested and alert, so a quick nap would do me some good.  
"Alright." I reluctantly reply, as I lay my head in Nicks lap, I feel him put his paw on my arm, and I shift myself to become more comfortable.  
I'm not worried about what Waterwood will think, he should know by now that Nick and I are very close. Just not how close, I hope.

I can feel myself start to drift, and finally...

(Nick POV)

I feel Judy relax as her breathing shallows. I'm surprised she would risk lying her head in my lap.  
I glanced to my bushey tail, lying on the opposite side from Judy.  
I think for a moment; maybe I should have put it on the same side as her.  
She loves to wrap my tail around her while she naps.

"So she's been having trouble sleeping?" I hear Waterwood ask, bringing my attention to him.  
I feel a bit annoyed at him, and a little let myself. I have almost completely forgotten he was there, and part of me wishes that he wasn't.

"What makes you think that?" I ask in a heavy whisper.  
I'm not going to admit a thing to this wolf.

"Clawhauser mentioned." Waterwood starts, his voice gleaming with confidence. "In his words; She must be doing better. To a comment I made about you two being early.  
I can only extrapolate that she was having trouble sleeping."

I thought hoping that ben didn't let anything slip was a long shot.  
I glance down to my sleeping bunny, my paw still on her arm, and quickly come up with a lie.  
"She's just been pushing herself a little too hard." I reply, hoping he'll buy my excuse.

"Usually that would be a sufficient enough reason, however Hopps has been pushing herself her entire life.  
And I find it hard to believe that after all this time she doesn't know her limits."  
Waterwood replies confidently, in what seems to me, to be a almost smug tone.  
This of course leading me to believe that this wolf has prepared that sentence.  
Is he playing me? I ask myself.

I try to ignore him for a moment, and get my thoughts together.  
However I find my mind drift to the night that Clawhauser destroyed my couch.

Judy had been manipulating me ever since she woke screaming that night.  
I assume it was because she didn't want to be alone when the nightmare happened again.  
I've hustled enough animals to know when I'm being manipulated.

I let her after seeing firstpaw how bad they were. I just wanted to be there for my friend.  
My best friend. The friend that changed my life for the better, who I owe more than I can ever repay.  
However at the time, I knew I loved her more than just a friend.  
I could never tell her that, at least then, or at least not till that night.

* * *

That night I had to catch up on paperwork.  
After my shift, I decided to go on a walk to think things over. I was surprised to find myself at Judy's apartment.  
However deep down I knew it was time.  
Before I knew it I was already standing at her door, ready to knock.

I remember just making the decision to turn and walk away, when the door swung open.  
Judy was standing there dressed, and clutching a small suitcase under her arm.  
We stared at each other for a moment, a moment that seemed like ages.

She yelped my name, as she tossed the suitcase to the ground.  
She then leapt into the air throwing her arms around my neck, almost causing me to plummet to the ground as well.  
She took no time pulling me into the apartment, asking what I was doing there.  
However I replied with. "What about you, where were you going Carrots?" Gesturing to the suitcase still lying  
in front of the door, where she had tossed it.

She stumbled and tripped over her words trying to find some kind of response, but finally let out a sigh, as if defeated.  
She admitted that she was going to my apartment, and that she needed me.  
My heart that had been racing, suddenly seemed to freeze at her words.  
At the time I didn't even realize that she took my paw with hers.

We looked deep into each other's eyes, and I knew what she was going to say.  
I couldn't believe that was happening.  
I can remember her beautiful amethyst eyes, they were so wide, and seemed to shimmer in the light.  
Her nose was twitching like crazy, as she stumbled with her words. "N-Nick, I-I think... I-I think I'm... in L-Love with you."

She tried to turn away, like she was embarrassed with herself, but I tightened my grip on her paw, refusing to let it slip from grasp.  
I was able to coax her eyes back to mine. I placed my paw on her cheek, before I pressed my lips to hers as gently as I could.

I'll always remember that night, our confession to each other, and our first kiss.  
The first of many.

* * *

"Nicholas?" I hear Waterwood ask, pulling me out of my head and back to reality.  
His voice invoking more anger out of me than it had before.

In an instant, I run through everything that he said, both today and yesterday.  
Every glance, every tone, every little detail.  
He's trying to manipulate me, and I'll have none of it. So I decide to demand.  
"What are you getting at, wolf?"

I see him glance at me through the mirror with a slight smirk. "Just trying to see if I can help, and in order to do that, I need to know what's going on."  
I can hear legitimate concern in his voice, behind a sense of enjoyment.  
I believe he's having fun with this, and whether he wants to help or not, Judy and I don't trust him.  
So for now I'll just play along, however I want to see what he knows.

So I put on my old mask, before asking. "What do you think it is?"

"Well, from what I've gathered so far, It's a few things.  
The first thing is; she's obviously not getting a lot of sleep, whether it was from fear, nightmares, or sheer restlessness."  
I glance up to the rearview mirror once more, and see the Wolf's mixed eyes staring back at me.  
"And seeing your slight reaction to the word nightmares, I assume that's it."  
The wolf states confidently returning his focus to the road.

The only thing I can think is; fuck this wolf!  
"The second thing is." He starts again. "I've noticed she seems to be on high alert all the time."  
The Wolf peers at me through the rearview mirror again, his mix colored eyes gleaming with a sense of smugness, before continuing.  
"Perhaps she is worried about letting a certain secret slip?"

I close my eyes, exhaling through my nose as I tilt my head down.  
"You know." I say quietly, as I open my eyes just in time to see Judy's nose twitch.  
How am I going to explain this to her? How did he find out? These, just a few of the questions racing through my head.

"Well of course I know, I'd be rather embarrassed if I didn't pick up on it immediately." He continues, the same sense of smugness and enjoyment flooding his voice.

I role my eyes before replying. "Immediately. So you've known the whole time. How?"

"Yesterday." Waterwood starts. "When you shook my paw. At the moment your eyes met hers, I felt your heart leap, and both your eyes, and hers dilated slightly."  
God dammit. Is all I can think now. However I guess since my mouth isn't always honest, some other part of my face has to be.

"Why haven't you reported us yet?" I ask calmly, looking to the back of his head this time, trying to avoid his eyes.

"If you worked at the FBI I would, but you don't, so I don't." Waterwood replies, in a bit of a friendly tone, the sense of smugness nowhere to be found.

"And you expect me to believe that your not reporting us out of the kindness of your heart?"

He lets out a little huff from his nose before he replies. "Your mistrust is understandable, however not necessary. I have no interest in causing problems for the two of you."

"Now back to the stress Hopps is under." He says, pushing my attention down to Judy.

"No." I start. "If she was stressed she'd tell me." I then begin to think to myself. You'd tell me right, Carrots? What am I thinking, of course she would.

"She may not know." Waterwood says pulling my attention back to him.  
"Believe me, I can understand the reason why you keep the relationship secret. It's not really looked upon fondly by other animals.  
Plus it's against regulation for two officers to be partners and romantically involved."

I then begin to question why everything looks slightly green, then I notice the sound of rain pounding the roof and windows of the SUV.  
I guess I was so deep in thought I didn't realize that we've arrived in the Rainforest district.  
"We're going to be there soon. Do you want to let her sleep?" Waterwood asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I turn to Waterwood's reflection in the rearview mirror, just as his eyes look from me to the road.

"She'll wake up the second I mov-"  
I stop talking when I feel Judy's paw gently grip my pants, and I look back down to her.  
Her breathing is shallow, so she's still sleeping.

I become so focused on how to tell Judy about Waterwood knowing  
about us, I haven't been paying attention to where this wolf was taking us.  
So when we finally come to a stop, I am surprised to find us at a popular tourist place.  
"Wow, the warehouse sure looks like a crowd of animals enjoying a view." I state sarcastically.

Waterwood turns the car off, then leans over the center console, causing him to struggle when he speaks.  
"This is an excellent location to scout the warehouse." He says opening the glove compartment.  
I can't see what he's grabbing, but from the sound of it, hes wrestling around in there for something specific.

"It's down by the harbor a Half a kilometer from here." He says with his tone flooded with excitement and enthusiasm.  
"I'll go set up." He says slamming the glove compartment closed, and darting out of the SUV before disappearing into the crowd.  
I've never seen anyone enjoy this so much.  
I then look back down to Judy, before letting out a quick sigh.

"Carrots." I say under my breath.

(Judy POV)

I wake to a familiar voice. "Come on Carrots. Wake up!" I hear Nick say gently, his warm breath washing over my cheek, just before I feel the touch of his lips.  
My eyes pop open as I jump into a sitting position yelping. "Nick!" I see Waterwood isn't in the car, and I start to relax.  
I focus on Nick, and I recognize the look of despair on his face. "What is it Nick?"

"Well Carrots, i've got good news and bad news."

I turn in the seat to face him while crossing my arms. "What's wrong?"

"I was talking to Waterwood and... He knows about us." I throw my face into my paws.

"Oh sweet cheese and crackers Nick. What happened?" I yelp in a panicked voice, as the realization that the thing I have been fearing the most has happened.

I feel him place his paw on my shoulder, as he continues. "I didn't tell him, he knew from the moment he met us."

I feel like I want to punch that stupid Wolf. "He's going to report us isn't he?" I ask, the panic in my voice becoming more apparent.  
The fear of Nick not being my partner anymore is almost unbearable.

"Oh but that's the good news, he's not." Nick's states reassuringly. I look up into his eyes, as he takes my paws in his.  
His paws seem to wash away my fear the moment they touch mine.

"That's good at least." I say gently, with fear beginning to creep back into my voice ever so slowly.  
This fear however, I can control. So I push it down, and begin to ask Nick. "How did he know?"

"Yesterday." Nick starts. "When we were shaking paws, I glance that you, and our pupils dilated." I start to look more intensely at his eyes, but I can't tell if there dilated.  
I'm still looking into his eyes when a knock at the window behind me causes me to jump into Nick's arms.

"Hurry up." I hear a muffled voice say.

"Give us a minute." Nick responds in a very annoyed tone. I turn my head just in time to see Waterwood walk off.

I turn back to Nick, as I realize my arms are around his neck, and I'm completely in his lap. I carefully get off of him, as Nick starts.  
"Carrots, there's more." I'm now standing up on the seat beside him. "You've been getting tired a lot lately." He continues.

"I know, I'm just exhausted from the nightmares."

"Carrots." Nick states in a tone similar to the one he had this morning, calm and soothing.  
"You're always on alert, like you're afraid every animal we meet is going to report us to Bogo."  
I feel a bit annoyed at Nick's over exaggeration, however I see his point, and where he's going with this.

The look in his eyes tells me he's worried. I take my paws out of his and put them on his cheeks. I lean in and give him a peck on the lips.  
"I'll be fine Nick." I state with a voice full of energy. "Now come on we have work to do."  
I then go to open the door, however I find myself frozen. I can feel one of my primitive urges swelling up from inside.  
This can't be happening, not now! However it is continuing to grow, and with it the desire to turn around and embrace Nick more intensely.

A desire I reluctantly given to. In a blur I zip around grabbing either side of Nick's coat and pull him to me.  
I force my lips to his, and after a moment I can feel our tongues meet. I enjoy every moment of this, but I need to pull myself away now.  
I finally wrestle myself away, to find Nick stunned at what just happened, his tongue still sticking from his mouth.  
I let out a little giggle at Nick's blep, before apologizing. "Sorry Nick, I-"

Nick puts his index finger on my lips, before saying. "I know Carrots." And stepping past me opening the door.  
I feel my cheeks and ears begin to burn, at the realization that Nick knows where that came from.  
I guess he would have to, in the past few months we were rarely apart. I mean, when would I have had the time.

We hop out and make her way through the crowd.  
It isn't difficult to spot a snowy white wolf wearing a high-end suit in this crowd.  
Everyone is a wash of colors. Each animal with its own unique fur color and patterns, plus their wildly different clothing  
It's pretty easy to spot the only one that's white and gray.

As we get closer I can see that he's looking through a spotter scope in the direction of the harbor.  
We walk up to him and his ear swivels in our direction.  
"Sorry for the impatience, we've got some commotion down there." He says as he slides a small black duffel bag towards us with his hind paw.  
I lean down and pull out two spotter scopes. I stand back up, and give one to Nick.

"Oh shit." Waterwood says under his breath.

"What is it?" Nick and I ask, as we put the scopes up to our eyes and peer through them in the direction Waterwood is looking.

It takes me a second to zero it in, but when I do the warehouse comes into focus.  
It's newer than the one we visited yesterday, so it's not as overgrown, and this ones near the water.  
I scanned the perimeter of the warehouse, and see a group of animals standing in the middle of a yard. There are two timberwolves, three tigers, a rhino and an arctic wolf.

"The arctic wolf" Waterwood says pushing my attention to the only white animal down there.  
"His name is Michael Coldten. He's someone I really hope isn't tied up in this." I zoom in to get a better look at the White Wolf.

"He doesn't seem too dangerous." I say watching the wolf tilt his head, giving off a large sense of confidence.

"Appearances can be deceiving. Look at the rhino." Waterwood says.  
I move the scope slightly to get a better look at the rhino. He looks terrified, at the Wolf that is slightly smaller in stature than the other wolves standing by his side.  
I slowly zoom out to get a better look at the entire group. One of the Timberwolves steps forward, and furiously points his finger at the Arctic Wolf.

To which the white wolf just smiles in response, and starts talking. I can't make out what he's saying, but he's calm.  
He takes a step towards the timberwolf, who appears to step back in fear, swooping his ears back and says something. Michael then looks up to the rhino, and only says a few words.

The rhino takes a few steps back as Michael turns his attention back to the timberwolf.  
Michael then darts in front of him grabbing his collar with both paws, and lifts him off the ground, as he begins to speak again.

"Holy crap." I hear Nick say.

"Yeah, now you see my concern." Waterwood responds. "He doesn't look like it but, he'd be able to take down that rhino no problem."  
Michael drops the Wolf to the ground, and he hastily crawls backwards. He flips over and pushes himself to his hind Paw, before turning to face Michael once more.  
The other animals walk away heading towards the cars at the far right end of the warehouse. Michael waves playfully and says something else to the timberwolf.  
Michael then turns and walks in the opposite direction away from the other animals, and gose behind some crates  
The timberwolf then turns and runs to the other animals.  
"They're scared of him." I say with a obviously worried tone.

"With good reason. Just standing in front of him is terrifying." I pull the scope away from my eye and look up at Waterwood, who is now just staring off into the distance.  
I'm surprised to see him scared. He then turns around, and start scanning the crowd.

"What are you looking for?" I ask pulling his attention to me.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." He says almost snapping, as he starts walking in the direction of the crowd, which he disappears into.

"He's terrified of that wolf." I hear Nick say from behind me. I turn to him, and meet his eyes with mine.  
The remnants of that primitive urge I had a few moments ago, is turning my thoughts to my relationship with Nick.

"Yeah, that's got me worried too." I reply, trying to put my focus back on my duties.  
I turn my gaze from Nick to the other animals here at the Lookout, however at seeing that most of them are couples, I quickly regret this course of action.  
I turn back to Nick, and step around him to lean on the railing meant for animals of mine and Nick's height.

"What's wrong Carrots?" Nick says as he leans on the railing next to me.

"It's beautiful." I respond calmly.  
Nick turns his head forward to look out at the massive trees hanging over the buildings at their base, and the houses built inside of them.  
And the way the bay opens the jungle to reveal the hills and mountains in the far distance.

"We've never been on a real date." I say to Nick quietly, as I trace the winding hills with my eyes. "I want to hold your paw without worrying about who's looking."  
I can feel my eyes start to water as I continue. "I want to wrap my arms around you, and kiss you without worrying whose glaring at us." I feel Nick put his paw on my back.

"Carrots." He starts. "Don't worry about what they think. You have me, isn't that all that matters?"  
I turn my head to him, as he wipes my cheek with his thumb. "My beautiful bunny."

I look deep into his eyes before I respond. "I'm sorry, I'm just scared."

"I'm scared too." Nick says, as he takes his paw off of my back, and sits it in front of me, with his palm up.  
"But when I look at you." He continues. "I know there's nothing to be afraid of."  
I exhale through my nose, and put my Paw in his.  
And suddenly, it is as if we are the only two animals there. only to be broken by. "Sorry for stepping away, I had to report-... Oh, am I interrupting something."

The voices of the crowd returns as we turn around.  
Agent Waterwood is standing a few meters from us holding his phone in his right paw, and a cardboard cup tray in the other, with three paper cups in it.  
Waterwood puts his phone in his side pocket, as he steps towards us offering out the cups in the tray.

"Yeah just a bit." Nick responds with a bit of hostility in his voice.

"It's only 10:30" Waterwood starts. "And there's not much else to do till 12."

We take two of the cups from the tray, and waterwood walks over to a bench to sit.  
He crosses his legs, as he takes the last cup out of the tray. He then drops the tray in the trash next to the bench, as he gets comfortable, and begins to stare out at the view.  
"We need to come up with a plan." He says, as we walk over and hop up onto the bench.  
"It looks like they don't have a lot of security during the day." Waterwood continues. "So it would be best to obtain a warrant as soon as possible, so we can storm the place during the day."  
Waterwood goes to take a sip from his cup, but pauses with it to his lips, and I can see his paw begin to tremble.

"You won't need a warrant, if you're let in." We hear a calm, and almost seductive voice say coming from behind us.  
Suddenly a wave of fear washes over me like a tsunami, and I see the fur on the back of Nick's neck stand up.|  
Waterwood's eyes widen as another arctic wolf steps from around the bench, and stops in front of us. "Hello again Volin. I haven't seen you since you tried to shoot me last year."  
Waterwood takes the cup from his mouth, and looks up to meet the other wolves gaze. Whom I recognize from his high-end suit. I saw it only a moment ago through the scope.

"Michael." Waterwood states. I see Nick tense up, as the weight of his breath gets heavier with every exhale.  
"Let in?" Waterwood tries to ask calmly, but the fear in his voice is very apparent.

"I know you saw the little scuffle I had with those fine gentlemammals. I was demanding that they remove their filth for my warehouse."  
I'm staring into that wolf's bright toxic lime green eyes, as I realize my paw is on my gun, and there's a scratching at the back of my mind.  
Waterwood is right, I don't know what it is about this wolf, but being in front of him is terrifying.  
I can see that Nick is having a hard time staying still, and I see that his Paw is also on his gun.  
The muscles that pull his lips up are twitching, looking as if he is struggling to hold back a growl.

I've never seen Nick like this, and I don't know why I'm so terrified.  
I've never felt fear like this before.  
I then decide to push against the scratching sensation at the back of my mind, before demanding.  
"What do you want Michael!?" I ask it a strong demanding tone, pushing the fear out of my body.

"Impressive." I hear Michael say.

"I'll make it simple. I want the weapons gone, and I don't care who takes them." He then holds out his right paw, to reveal keys pinched in his fingers, as well as a strange bracelet on his arm.  
It looks to be rather old, with a long crystal running up the inside of his arm. Waterwood then holds open his paw, and Michael drops the keys into his palm.

"This is the last time I rent out one of my warehouses without further inquiry." Michael says smugly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I got places to be, and animals to yell at."  
He begins to turn himself but pauses. "Oh, and one more thing. Their motto is; the less attention the better. So there are no guards."  
He walks back around the bench, and disappears into the crowd. Nick relaxes, and begins to pant. Something I've only seen twice.

I feel a weight lift, and I start to relax as well, as I begin to ask. "So are we going to the warehouse now?" Nick quickly hops off the bench, and disappears into the crowd without saying a word.

Waterwood who is examining the key, turns his attention to me to respond. "Yeah, we don't need a warrant if we have a key, and explicit information that there are illegal goods in the premises."  
We push our way through the crowd, and get back to the SUV, where Nick is waiting for us. Nick and I climb into the back, and sit next to each other again.  
Waterwood pulls himself into the driver seat, and starts the SUV. We then drive away from the lookout, heading to the warehouse.

End part #6


	7. Out in the open

Out in the open.

(Judy POV)

Nick and I are sitting on the back seat of the SUV once more. This time however, I feel more  
comfortable. I can't quite put my finger on it but something seems different. Not about the  
SUV, but about how everything feels. I decide to turn my gaze to Nick, who seems to be deep  
in his own thoughts.

I slide my Paw into his, in an attempt to pull his attention to me. His pulse is racing!  
Whatever Coldten was doing, seems to be affecting him more than it did me.  
I feel his pulse beginning to slow. When I pull my gaze up from his Paw, I find myself looking  
into his eyes. "I'll be fine Carrots." He says trying to be reassuring, but his voice is a mix of emotions.

Even Waterwood seems to be distracted. I recognize the look on his face.  
He may be driving but he's not all there. Why did this affect Nick and Waterwood so much.  
Is it because they're males? It could be some kind of pheromone. No, it can't be that, Nick  
would've smelled something.

I start to replay that moment on the bench for myself. Waterwood knew he was there  
before he spoke. What could it have been? That scratching the back of my mind. Could that  
have something to do with? It was almost piercing in a way. Could it have been some kind of  
high-frequency sound? I think it over for a second. Maybe, wolves can hear higher  
frequencies better.

So if it was a sound, what was admitting it? could it have been that strange bracelet?  
No, it was old, and almost paperthin. To thin to hide any kind of technology in.  
Then it suddenly dawned on me, It can't be a frequency, or it would affect him to.  
He could of been wearing ear plugs. A voice in my head argues. But I didn't see any.  
"So what's the plan for the warehouse?" Nick says, derailing my train of thought.

"Simple. We use the key to unlock the door, walk in, and if we find what we're  
looking for, we call backup to secure the location."  
Waterwood says, the words slipping out of his mouth with great haste. he's clearly still  
freaked out from that moment.

I spend the rest of the trip down to the warehouse worrying about what we'll be walking into.  
Michael said there wasn't going to be any guards, however I'm not inclined to believe him.  
Nick tries to reassure me that everything will be fine, but it's clear he still shaken.

We pull around the side of the warehouse where we saw Coldten interacting with those animals.  
Many of the rocks are still displaced from where the rhino had stood. Even the markings from the  
Timberwolf scuffling backwards trying to get to his hind paws, are still visible.

It doesn't take us long to find a door that has a lock that matches the kind of key we have.  
Waterwood slides the key in the deadbolt. Before he turns it, he feels the need to remind us.  
"Remember, if things escalate call for backup and run. However I'd prefer if you tried to do  
both at the same time." He then unlocks the door, and steps in first.  
We follow close behind with our paws on our guns. The place is filled to the brim with  
mostly metal crates with a few wooden ones scattered around.

All the metal crates are stacked upon each other, all the way to the far distant roof.  
Waterwood picks up a crowbar hooked over the edge of a concrete barrier wall.  
He then prize open one of the wooden crates. Once it is sufficiently opened enough, he  
tosses the crowbar to the ground, deciding to open it further with his own Paws.

The crowbar pinks on the ground sitting piercing echoes through the warehouse.  
The rest of nails squeak as they are pulled from the crate, creating even more noise.  
"Officer Hopps, call for backup." He says calmly, pushing the lid of the crate so that it  
rests against the metal one behind it.

I pull out my walkie, and start to call out. "Clawhauser, we need backup at 2062 Blackwater Rd, immediately."  
I say into the device with urgency. I see Waterwood's ear flinch as he goes for the gun under his left arm.  
As he pulls it out of its holster, he kicks me into Nick, sending both of us flying behind  
one of the concrete barrier walls. We get to our hind paws, and pull our weapons from their holsters.

I hear the ear shattering blast from Waterwood's firearm, just before an ascending sound  
pierces the air. It's reminiscent of a defibrillator charging, but far louder.  
When the tone reaches its apex, it is replaced by electricity arcing with the sound of air brakes mixed in.

Bolts of blue light fly past, hissing as they go. Some crack against the concrete barrier we're  
hiding behind, tearing apart the corner. The ones that missed the barrier, slam against the  
back wall, leaving scorch marks and partially melted metal. Waterwood sits his gun on the  
ground, and starts making paw gestures towards us. All I can think is; crap, I should have  
learned what all that paw waving means by now.

"He wants one of us to go right, and the other to go left when he returns fire."  
Nick says over the sound of what I'm assuming is one of the prototype weapons.  
They'd be more interested in selling them, my fluffy butt. I think to myself, growing  
increasingly annoyed at Waterwood. "He wants us to dart the assailant." Nick continues.

The weapons suddenly stops firing, followed by a loud hiss. Waterwood takes this  
opportunity to return fire. He pauses to let Nick go left while I go right. I dash around some  
crates, as I hear the prototype weapon begin to fire once more. I don't think the assailant saw  
us, so we can sneak around behind him.

I get on the same isle the assailant is shooting from. The sound of the prototype weapon is  
so intense my ears are beginning to ring. I find a wolf shooting through a break in the crates.  
His bushy snow white tail is all I can see of him. He can't be an Arctic wolf, he appears to be  
larger than Waterwood, Wearing all black with a odd Hooded trenchcoat.  
I can see Nick appear on the opposite side of the isle from me.

I can see him quietly return his gun to its holster, before pulling out his pawheld dart gun.  
I barely hear the dart gun fire, over the sound of the prototype. I then hear a rather  
high-pitched yelp, as the prototype falls silent.  
I lean around the corner of the crate, just in time to see the assailant pull the dart from his thigh.

"You fucking fox." I hear an unexpectedly feminine voice say, just before the assailant  
begins to slide down the crate. He lets the prototype plop to the ground, so that he can grab  
the side of a crate.

He appears to be examining the dart, when he continues to slide down the crate he had  
been clinging to. His claws scraping away the paint on the metal crate as he goes.  
The assailant finally comes to a sitting position, before falling backwards the rest of the way.  
I can see him relax, and the dart he pulled from his thigh, then rolls from his paw.

Nick returns the dart gun to it's position on his belt, before rolling the assailant on his stomach.  
It takes no time at all for Nick to slip his pawcuffs on to the assailant's wrists.  
I walk to Nick's side, as he rolls him over. "Carrots, can you help me prop her up?"  
He asks struggling to pull the assailant, who is almost three times our size into a sitting position.

"Her?" I ask, more than a little confused.

"Believe me Carrots, she's female." He replies tapping his nose, indicating to her scent.  
I'm inclined to believe him on this, I've grown to trust his nose.  
I remember one night Nick told me that; his since of smell may not be as good as a  
Wolf's, but it's still better than most. That's also around the time I started to avoid the Wolf  
ZPD officers. Worried that they may pick up on something when I'm around Nick.

Nick and I struggle to lift the assailant, desperately trying to get her into a sitting position.  
Once we achieve this goal, Nick pulls the hood off of her head.  
"Whoa." I say as I look over her features. Her nose being the first thing I notice. It looks a little  
off, still looking mostly like a wolf's nose, but it appears almost deer like.  
The same can be said for the rest of her features. Even her body seems to be more slender  
than you would normally see on a Wolf.

"Is she a hybrid?" Nick asks with a measure of disbelief. His disbelief justified, A cross  
between two species is very rare, especially between a pred and prey. I've never seen a  
hybrid in person before. "That has to have been modified." Waterwood exclaims emerging  
from around the corner, almost startling me.

He returns his gun to its holster and walks over to us, not even glancing at the assailant.  
"The prototypes overheat after four shots." He states with a mixture of excitement and concern.

"Maybe she knows who modified it." I reply gesturing towards the assailant.  
Who is still unconscious, and propped up against one of the crates behind Waterwood.  
He turns to face her, and appears to be almost shocked at the site of her.  
I guess he's never seen a hybrid in person before, like Nick and I.

He then kneels next to her, reaching into his coat, before pulling out a pill.  
He puts the capsule under her nose, and cracks it. Immediately she gasps, opening  
her mouth, as her Icy blue eyes pop open. She looks at the gun on the  
ground next to Nick, then up at us.

"You damn Fox!" She yells, directing her full anger towards Nick.

She then turns her attention to Waterwood, and her features relax as her ears fly back.  
"Dad?" She says almost in a whisper, with a hint of surprise in her voice.  
My heart drops as her ears come back up, and her features return to that of anger.  
"Let me go. NOW!" She barks as she struggles with the cuffs.

"I can't do that." Waterwood replies calmly.  
"Samantha, why did you run?" He continues in that soothing fatherly voice we heard  
him speak in earlier, completely leaving Nick and I in the dark.  
Her features relax again, before she yelps. "You let them die!"

Waterwood's ears slide back before replying. "Kai, you don't understand.  
I only just pulled you away when the cars exploded."  
His voice so full of emotion, it's hard to tell if he's even happy he found her.

"Did you really think I didn't want to save them." Waterwood continues, his  
voice surging with urgency. "There isn't a day that goes by where I don't miss them...  
Where I don't miss you." I throw my arm around Nick's, pulling him back to give  
Waterwood and his daughter more space.  
This explains the lack of pictures in his office and home.  
I knew that he must've lost family, but I never thought that he lost them like that.

With all that's happening, I find it difficult to put everything in order.  
The thing I find most heartbreaking, is Waterwood's statement: save them.  
Indicating that there was more than just his wife in the car. Losing not only the  
love of one's life, but their children as well. I don't think my heart would be able to take it.  
At least he saved his daughter. At least she is alive.

Samantha's ears lay back before she responds.  
"N-No, You held me back! you-" She trails off with a quiver in her voice, as her eyes start to water.  
"It was too late Kai. They were already gone.  
And now you're working for the animals responsible." Kai then sniffles. "W-What?" She asks in a struggle.

"I looked into what happened. It was a weapon deal gone bad.  
The resulting shootout spilled out onto the highway, causing the pileup."

"I'm not working for them." She states, gaining control over her  
voice once more, however the tears are still running down her muzzle.

"I broke in." She admits. "I'm looking for more of those." She continues gesturing towards  
the prototype with her muzzle, flinging off some tears and it's direction.  
Nick leans down to pick it up.

"Daddy, I'm sorry." She says before she clinches her eyes, forcing the last of her tears to flow from them.

"I was so angry, for so long. I-" She pauses when her father pulls her into a hug.  
"I know sweetie." He says to her as he holds her tightly, appearing to never want to let her go again.  
I look at the weapon in Nick's paws. The sleek white weapon appears out of place in his dark red Paws.  
Even the bright blue light that shines from within it, just seems so unreal.

Nick puts his paw on the grip, and a descending tone emits from it, as the lights become dim, and  
finally goes out altogether. "The rest of those aren't here." I hear Samantha say to us. "I was just about  
to leave, when I ran into you." I look back at her as Waterwood Pulls her to her hind paws.  
"Do you know where they are?" I ask carefully.

Now that she's standing up next to her father, it's a lot easier to see how much taller she is, not  
just to her father, but any other Wolf. She looks down at all of us, as we start to hear sirens in the  
distance, getting closer with each passing moment. "The syndicate that's renting this place, is renting  
another warehouse in tundra town. It's a lot smaller." She states confidently.

"Do you know the address?" Waterwood asks, as he looks up to her.

"Yes." She replies, as she struggles with her pawcuffs again.

"Can't you just let me go." She says, finishing with a smile filled with sharp teeth.

"You admitted to breaking and entering, with the intention of theft." Nick states.

"But I didn't actually steal anything." She argues.

"Sweetie." Waterwood interjects. "Ni.. Officer Wild is right." He states, correcting himself.  
I'm a bit surprised that he almost called Nick by his first name.

We walk around the crates as Kai discloses the location of the warehouse.  
She tells us that at first she thought the smaller warehouse was a decoy.  
However seeing that the prototypes aren't here, they must be at the other location.

We walk out side, just as our backup arrives, sirens blaring.

The sirens begin to wind down as the squad car surround us. Bogo Steps out of the lead  
car, and walks up to us in his usual brooding manner. "Hopps, Wild. Why aren't you in uniform?"  
He asks stopping in front of us, crossing his arms.  
"And Who's this?" He asks, now looking directly at Samantha.

Waterwood steps forward and looks directly at Bogo.  
"This is my daughter. She needs to be arrested for breaking and entering as  
well as attempted murder of a federal agent, and police officers."

"What!" Samantha yelps. "Dad, no. Please!" She begs.  
Bogo's expression Goes from brooding, to that of disbelief.

"She may try to flee, however I would appreciate it if she was treated kindly." Waterwood Says in a threatening tone.

Bogo turns to the other officers approaching us.  
"Delgado, arrest this young lady, and read her, her rights."  
Bogo turns Back to us, and this time looks directly at me.

"So I take it you found the illegal weapons.  
And all without getting my best officers killed."Bogo state sarcastically.

"You know God damn well that wasn't my fault." Volin barks, jabbing his finger at Bogo.  
Delgado takes Kai, and starts reading out the usual rights speech, as she pleads with  
her father once more. "You'll be fine Samantha, I'll be right behind you." Waterwood  
says as Delgado assists Kai into the back of a squad car.

I look back up at Bogo, and reply.  
"Yes sir, but there's still one crate unaccounted for. Kai or, Samantha gave us it's location."  
I state, not entirely sure what I should be calling Waterwood's daughter. Bogo turns his  
head to look at Nick, and I do the same.

He's still holding the prototype in his paws.

"What the hell is that?" Bogo asks.

"It's classified." Waterwood interjects, still angry about Bogo bringing up the last time  
he worked with the ZPD. "I need to call in the location of the last crate." He continues as he  
storms off towards his SUV, phone in paw.

Bogo follows Waterwood With his eyes as he walks off.  
He then returns his focus to me, before asking. "Hopps, Wilde. What the hell is that thing?"  
I take a deep breath. "It's a prototype weapon sir. There the reason he wanted our help.  
Everything will be in my report." I reply hastily.

Waterwood returns from his call, and stops next to chief Bogo. "My fellow agents will be  
taking care of the last crate." He turns his attention up to Bogo before continuing.  
"I need to speak with Nick and Judy for a moment. Privately." Bogo nods with a grunt, then  
turns and walks off towards the other officers. When the chief is sufficiently out of  
earshot, Waterwood turns his attention to us. "I'm sure you both have questions."  
He says over the sound of the chief barking orders.

I'm still trying to process what happened so I struggle to find something to say or  
ask, when Nick steps forward. "I understand that you lost family in an accident a few  
years ago, but what I can't understand is; is it Kai, or Samantha."

Volin lets out a little laugh before replying. "Her name is Samantha Caitlin Waterwood."  
He then turns to look at the squad car Samantha is sitting in, before continuing.  
"When she was younger, she mispronounced her middle name is Kai-lynn." He raises  
his paw to his face to wipe one of his eyes. "Chloe started calling her that is a nickname."

"Chloe?" Nick and I both ask.

"Her mother, my wife." He responds. "She was a white tailed deer, and so beautiful.  
Thank you for not shooting her." He says turning back to us.  
"I owe both of you more than you can know. If you two ever need anything, do not hesitate to ask."

"What about letting me borrow your Furroari every now and then." Nick says in a half joking tone, trying to lighten the mood.

"Actually I was thinking about giving it away. If you'd be interested. I don't drive it anymore."  
Nick darts a quick glance at me before turning his attention to Waterwood.  
"Yes! Yes, I want it." Nick yelps in excitement.

Some unmarked SUV show up, and agents hop out, and walk up to Bogo and the other officers.  
Waterwood takes us back to his place, and tells us it'll take a bit to get the paperwork together for the Furroari.

We then get in Nick's car, and head to the ZPD to file the proper paperwork.  
It takes a few hours, but I finally finish. I go over to Nick's desk, just as he finishes his.  
"Hay, Nick. Can we talk?" I ask from the entrance to his cubicle. Nick logs out of his  
computer, and swivels in the office chair to face me.

"Sure, what's up Carrots?" He says as he stretches, throwing his arms over his head.  
I check the neighboring cubicles, to make sure that were alone. I walk into Nick's  
cubicle, and push the chair he's in, all the way to the back to make sure no one can overhear us.

"Nick, I think we should tell Bogo when we request the vacation time." I say in a whisper.  
Nick starts darting his eyes around my face. as I continue in the same hushed tone.  
"He's going to find out eventually, and it be better if we told him, rather than he find out some other way."

Nick looks over my head towards the entrance of the cubicle, then back at me before he responds.  
"We're always careful, so how would he find out?" Nick replies, with a increasingly worried expression forming on his face.

I look deep into his eyes before replying. "I'm tired of keeping us a secret, and  
what happened today at the warehouse, made me realize what we have can be  
taken from us at any moment." I take his paws in mine as I continue.  
"Nick, I love you, and I'm not going to let what other animals think prevent  
me from living my life the way I want to live it."

"It's about time." Nick says pulling my face to his. I close my eyes at the moment our lips meet.  
I can't believe were doing this here in the precinct, but I just don't care.  
I put my left paw on his shoulder, and the other on the back of his head as I lean further into him.

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW." I hear shrieking from behind.  
I pull myself away from Nick, as I spin around to see Clawhauser bouncing up and  
down with his paws curled in front of his mouth, as he yelps.  
"Oh you guys when did you-" I quickly start to shush him before he can continue.

"Oh right, that's against regulation." He then gasps before continuing.  
"Wait, I'm supposed to report things like this." I hear Nick's chair squeak as he gets off of it.  
He stands beside me, as he starts. "Look buddy, we were just going to go tell Bogo, so don't worry about it."  
Nick then walks by Clawhauser, heading left towards the door, and I follow closely behind him.

As we exit the office areas I hear Ben squeak once more. Nick and I step across the hall to  
a elevator. We take it up to the third-floor, and get to the door to Bogo's office. I look into Nick's  
eyes, before knocking. "Come in." We hear Bogo say, I open the door, and we both step in to see  
him doing paperwork again.

"Sir can we talk." I ask. He nods, and we climb up into the same chair on the left.  
Nick sits to my right as Bogo says. "This better be quick, I'm busy." He says in his usual  
annoyed tone.I glance at Nick before I start. "We were hoping to get some vacation time."  
He stops writing in one of the folders, and looks up towards us.

"Vacation time. Both of you?" He asks perplexed. Here we go. I think to myself.  
I take my right paw out of my lap, and hold it open between us. Nick lifts his paw out  
of his lap, and puts it in mine, weaving our fingers together.

We rest our arms between us as I look directly at Bogo. "Yes sir, both of us." I say, as Bogo's eyes widen.

"I just need some time to recuperate, and I'll be right as rain in a week, it will also be a  
good opportunity for Nick to come meet my family." Bogo sits his pin down, and folds his arms  
on his desk. "How long?" He asks in a low voice, completely ignoring what I said. I take a deep  
breath before replying. "About, three in a half months now. Sir I know it's against regulation, but  
I was hoping Nick and I could stay partners."

Bogo hangs his head, and exhales heavily through his mouth. "Hopps, Wilde, I'm granting your  
vacation time, because I've noticed how tired Hopps appears by the time noon roles around.  
But as for your-" He pauses, and turns his attention to the door behind us, which has just opened.

"Bogo, I was hoping we could-... Oh hello, it appears I'm interrupting again."  
Nick and I both lean around the chair, to see Volin stepping through the door. He walks over, and  
stops next to us. He turns his attention from the chief, down to us.

"Well it appears a certain secret is out." He says, putting more attention on mine and Nick's  
paws, which are still woven together.

"What do you want, Waterwood." Bogo snaps, breaking the silence, and pulling our attention to him.

"There are a few things I wish to discuss with you." He says in an obviously hostile tone.  
"However." He continues. "I believe you're already having a conversation with Nick and Judy?"

"Yes." Bogo starts. "I was just about to tell them it is against regulation to-"  
Volin lets out a pif, followed by a slight chuckle breaking Bogo's concentration.

"Regulation?" Volin starts. "It wouldn't be the first time you broke regulation."  
Bogo's Jaw immediately tightens, followed by a glare, being fueled by pure anger.

"Why don't you two had home." Volin says, glancing to us slightly."You've had a long day, and  
I have a lot to discuss with the Chief."

"Hopps! Wilde! I expect to see you here at this time next week. Dismissed!" Bogo says gritting his teeth.

"Oh you're going on a vacation. That's a great idea, have fun." Volin says pleasantly, as we  
slide off the chair. We hastily exit Bogo's office, and head back to the elevator. When we get off  
the elevator, we quickly make our way through the main lobby, and out into the parking lot.

Nick and I are quiet on the drive back to our apartment. I'm worrying over the fact that  
we might not be partners anymore, and that it may lead to us breaking up. I've never seen  
Bogo so angry, and I wonder what Volin was talking about when he said; it wouldn't be the  
first time Bogo broke regulation.

Nick parks the car, and we had into our apartment building. We just get to the elevator as it  
opens, to let the annoying gazelle couple step off. "Oh yeah this is going to be awesome."  
One of them says in his usual annoying voice, as they walk past us, not even realizing that we were there.

We then take the elevator up to our floor. "So, where do you think they're going?" Nick asks as we  
step off the elevator. "Nick." I say gently. "I honestly don't care. All I can think about, is climbing into bed."  
I take my overcoat off as we step through the door, and I put it back on the coat rack.

"You okay Carrots?" I hear Nick ask, as he places his paw on my shoulder.

"I'm fine, Nick." I try replying in a reassuring tone, but I find myself lacking the energy to do so.  
"You're not fine, your ears are droopy." He replies, turning me around to face him.  
Now placing both his paws on my shoulders, keeping me at arms length.  
I look to the floor trying to avoid his gaze.

"Nick I-"

"Carrots, look." Nick starts, cutting me off. "If we get back from our vacation and were  
not partners anymore, we still have each other. I'm not going anywhere, Judy."  
I love it when he says my name. I turn my gaze up to his bright green eyes, before placing  
my paws around his head, and pulling his lips to mine.

Nick then removes his paws from my shoulder, and slides his arms around me, pulling my body against his.  
I begin to feel a fluttering feeling in my chest, as my paws make their way under his shirt.  
We can't do this, what about... The gazelle couple is gone, we saw them leave just as we arrived.  
With them gone, there's no one to overhear us.

And so our vacation begins tonight. I think to myself, while fighting my  
trembling paws. Desperately trying to undo the buttons of Nick's shirt.  
Our lips locked together, only parting to take breaths.  
His paws under my shirt, and making their way up my body.  
I never wanted this more, but I can't stop shaking, even he's trembling slightly.

End part #7

I would just like to add that; Furroari is a pun. Fur + roar + the i from the end of Ferrari.~


	8. Cut short

Cut short.

(Judy POV)

I frantically dash through the house, relentlessly searching for my books. My midterms are in two days, and I need to be studying.  
Once I've torn apart the living room searching for them, a thought comes to mind. Maybe one of my younger siblings toted it off into there room.  
Without much more consideration then that, I dash up the stairs and begin to run through a few of my sibling's rooms.  
My mom catches me upon exiting Bin's room, one of my younger siblings in his terrible twos.

She's concerned about my mad dash from room to room, carefully asking what I'm searching for.  
"My books! My books!" I exclaime frantically, trying to get past her. Yet she holds her Position at the door.  
"Oh, is that all?" She says with a little swipe of her paw. "Nicholas took them up to your room."

Nicholas!? What is he doing here? Nonetheless I dash up the stairs to the third floor, and fly down the hall.  
I finally get to my room, and burst through the door. After a quick scan of my room I find not my books, but a Fox.  
A fox who has stricken a alluring pose on my bed, with only a small sliver of blanket covering his groin.

"Nick I don't have time for this! where are my books?" I yelp growing increasingly frustrated with him.  
"Oh come on, Carrots." Nick says in a smooth seductive voice. "You know you're going to ace them. you always do."  
I begin to relax, finding truth in his words. I do always ace them. What? That doesn't make any sense.  
I remember taking my midterms. So why do I need to study? I ask myself, my confusion growing with every moment.  
At the same time the world around me is getting hazy, foggy and less clearly defined.

Finally the reality of my situation dawns on me.  
I can feel Nick's arms wrapped tightly around me, and his warm bare body curled around mine.  
The memories of the dream begin to fade, as I become more and more conscious.  
I'm so comfortable, and more relaxed than I've been in months. But if we're going to catch the train, I better start packing.  
So I gently begin to slide out of Nick's arms. It takes me a moment, but I finally manage to get out of his grip.  
I slide myself to the edge of the bed, and put my feet out into the chilled air of our apartment.  
I ever so carefully slide down, while at the same time preparing myself to touch the freezing floor.

However like every morning upon touching the floor, a chill runs up my legs and spine.  
I carefully slide from underneath the covers, trying not to let any of the warm air escape.  
I just don't want to wake Nick just yet. I'm mostly worried he might be a little feisty.  
Weight, what am I thinking? Foxes usually don't have much of a drive out of their season.  
When does their season start anyway? Just before winter? Early winter, midwinter, late winter?  
Perhaps I should look it up.

Focus Judy. Part of my mind reminds me.  
Forcing me to realize that I've been standing naked next to the bed for almost five minutes.  
I shake my head before having a look around the apartment. Upon doing so my attention is  
immediately drawn to the minefield of clothing around the bed.  
A mixture of our clothing that we wore yesterday. However I tilt my head, puzzled at seeing  
my underwear at the other side of the room right next to the door.

I glance at Nick, still sleeping soundly in our bed. A smile begins to form on my face, as  
I remember how fast he pulled them off. I throw in a bathrobe before tidying up.  
Once I've picked up all our clothing, I begin to hear a patting sound.  
My ear twirls in it's direction, and I turn towards it to see Nick's paw searching for me.

"Carrots?" He calls out sleepily, when he fails to locate me.

"Over here Nick." I respond quietly. "Just cleaning up." I then toss him his robe, telling him to take a shower, while I start packing.  
I pause for a moment, watching the robe fly through the air, before finally landing on his head.  
I can't help but smile with satisfaction.  
He stirs for a moment, before pushing himself into a sitting position at the edge of the bed.

I let out a little chuckle at seeing the bathrobe still encompassing his head.  
He finally pulls the robe off, before putting his arms through the sleeves.  
He then tosses the blanket off of himself and stands, not bothering to tie the robe.  
I feel frozen in place, as he walks up to me. My entire head feels as if it's on fire, just as Nick places his finger under my chin.  
He tilts my head up ever so slightly, and we gaze into each others eyes.  
His emerald eyes shimmer in the dim light. Everything about him, his eyes, his nose, his ears. I love the way they perk up when I call his name.

He begins to speak in a soft smooth voice, not too unlike the way he did in the dream.  
"Morning, Carrots." He states just before planting a gentle kiss on my lips.  
The kiss being the icing on the cake. My knees weaken, my heart pounds, I want him. but no! I-  
I blink and Nick's already gone from my site. I spin around to find him at the rack, picking out his outfit for the day.  
"Don't forget to call your parents, and tell them were coming." He says, finally tying his bathrobe, before slipping out of the room.

My body as if it's on fire, and my head filled with foggy images of Nick's open bathrobe.  
That dame Fox! I both love and hate that he knows how to do that. My head is spinning but somehow find a way to latch onto his words.  
"Oh sweet cheese-n-crackers." I blurt out barreling to the desk, and grabbing my phone.  
I quickly unlock my phone, and scroll through my contacts to find the one that reads [Mom & Dad].  
I tap it, and it begins dialing, I then Slam the phone to my ear.

While the phone rings I glance at the door, trying to think of a way to get back at Nick for getting me so flustered.  
But after a few seconds, my thoughts are derailed by: "Hey bun bun, is something wrong?" I hear my mother's voice ask.

"No nothings wrong." I reply reassuringly. "I forgot to call yesterday, and tell you that Nick and I were coming over for a week."

"You are! That's great, we'll clear out a guest room for Nick." She says in a brisk of  
excitements, sounding as if she's hurrying to get things in order already.  
I want to tell her she doesn't have to do that. Because Nick will be sleeping  
with me in my old room, but I think it would be best to tell them in person.

"You're friend is always welcome." She responds kindly, with hospitality that I see so rarely here in Zootopia.  
We continue talking for a few minutes, about how things have been going. Like how the family businesses been going, or like what I've been up to in zootopia.  
I always refrain from telling them the dangerous parts of my job, like when I get shot at. An event thats only happened twice so far.  
While thinking about details that I leave out, I recall the fact that I have yet to mention to them that Nick is a fox.  
And knowing my dad's temperament, I'm certain he still has a Fox Taser around the house somewhere.

Thinking of Nick, he should be almost done with his shower. I need to hurry this up.  
"Oh and Mom, I forgot to mention something about Nick." I say while turning to face  
the door, as if doing so would somehow prevent Nick from being able to walk through it.  
"I didn't think it was important at the time but... He's a Fox." I finally say, hoping Nick isn't standing outside the door.

"Oh. Well that's fine-" She trails off when she figures out what I was trying to tell her. Then suddenly, the worst thing happens.  
The door handle jiggles, then turns. It seems like minutes pass before the door begins to creak open.  
Nick then steps through, tossing his robe towards the hamper.

"I'll hide the Fox taser from Stu before you two get here." She says finally, causing Nick to freeze in place.

"Thank you, see you when we get there, love you, bye!" I say just shy of being frantic, before pulling my phone from my ear, and pressing the red end call button.  
"Hey Nick." I say hastily, as I return my phone to the desk.

"Did she say Fox taser?" Nick asks, with a measure of concern in his voice.  
I think for a second may this would be good opportunity to get back at him.  
However on the other paw, I don't want Nick to be tens the whole vacation.  
After all I am planning on snuggling up to him the whole vacation.  
"Relax." I begin to respond reassuringly. "She's hiding it."

I quickly pick out some of my favorite clothes, like my pink plaid shirt, and blue jeans.  
I then head down the hall, take a quick shower and upon my return to the room, I find  
Nick standing on top of one of the suitcases, trying to close it. "Need help?" I ask with a  
chuckle, causing him to slip and fall. He plops on the bed, with his feet still on the  
suitcase. I can't help but let out a laugh.

I toss my robe at the hamper, as I walk over to him, laughing all the while.  
Nick grumpily hops off the bed, as I take a moment to examine the zipper.  
Upon doing so I notice that a bit of cloth has been caught.  
Once the bit of cloth is removed, zipper closes with ease.

"Oh sure, after I've compressed them." Nick spouts, placing his paws on his hips.  
Together we grab our suitcases, and head to the door. As usual I grab my  
key, then go for the door handle. I'm about to grasp the handle, when I hear someone knock.  
I sit my suitcase beside the door, and pull it open, to reveal a tall slender snowy white animal.  
Wearing Similar dark clothing under the same hooded trenchcoat she wore yesterday.

"Oh good!" She exclaims, relieved. "I was hoping to catch you before you left."

"Kai?" I hear Nick ask, as he places his paw on my shoulder. Judging by her ears tilt back, she didn't expect to find him here.

"I wanted to... To apologize for shooting at you yesterday, and for-" She trails off, probably remembering her hostility towards us.  
Kai then kneels down, and hunches over slightly to get on eye level with us, before continuing. "I'm really sorry for what I said, and did.  
If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't actually trying to shoot you. I was just trying to scare you off."  
She continues to ramble on for a moment, nervously talking about how she would normally  
just call to apologize, but the ZPD confiscated her phone. However out of all her nervous  
rambling, she seems reluctant to state as to why her phone was confiscated.

A little detail that I encourage her to elaborate on.  
"I umm, had a friend of mine do something to it." She pauses for a moment, probably hoping that we don't want her to elaborate.  
But Nick and I give her a stern look, forcing her to continue. "That makes it completely untraceable." She says trying to look as innocent as possible.  
A minute passes before she lets out a large sigh. "Look." She starts. "I was angry, and trying to hide from my dad."  
She pauses for a moment fighting a catch in her throat. "But that phone is like half my life!"

And like that, I feel request drawing near. Perhaps the only reason she came to apologize.  
Samantha asks just shy of begging for our help.  
"Sure." Nick says suddenly, to my surprise. "I can get our friend Clawhauser to get it out of evidence for you."

"Thank you!" Kai yelps excitedly.

Nick and I grab our suitcases again, and walk with Kai to the elevator.  
Once the elevator begins to move, I look up to Kai. She's fidgeting with her Paws, obviously nervous.  
In an attempt to calm her down, I decide to ask her how her father doing.

Her paw fidgeting freezes when the questions presented. "Well." She finally starts.  
"Things aren't perfect, but at least we're talking now." She states optimistically.  
She returns her gaze forward, but turns away at the site of her reflection.  
She instead looks at the nonreflective sidewall.

I'm a bit surprised to see her act like that.  
I begin to wonder if she thinks she's ugly, most hybrids do, to despite that the opposite is often true.  
But I think with her being a lot like her father, she may be too smart to be fooled into thinking such a thing.  
I have a feeling that it's something a bit more complex than that.

When we exit the building, we break company with her, and try to flag down a taxi.  
Nick finally does, and we head off to the train station.  
On the way there, I try to question Nick about his decision to leave  
the car parked outside our apartment building. Questioning that leads to us bickering for most of the ride.  
We finally get to the station, and while we're waiting for the train to arrive, I force Nick to call Ben, since it was his idea.  
Ben said he'd happily get it, and that Kai was already there.  
As we board the train, I inform Nick, that if Ben got in trouble that it would be on his head.

On the ride to BunnyBorough, my thoughts begin to turn to how I'm going to tell my parents about Nick.  
After a few minutes I remind myself that worrying about things like this is what led me to being so exhausted in the first place.  
So with that in mind, I pull Nick's tail around me like a blanket, snuggling up to him, and not caring about who's looking.  
Once we arrive it doesn't take us long to fund my parents. Just the two of them, because of my older siblings are probably still working.

On the drive to the farm, I tell my parents that we're here to rest. And Nick being Nick, gets my parents curious as to why I need rest.  
They begin to question me, but I informed them that I was planning on telling them everything at dinner.  
I put a bit of emphasis on "everything" while looking at Nick, making sure he understands what I mean.

After a few minutes we start to pass by many of my family farms, but it will be a few more minutes before we get to the house.  
Once we do finally get to the house, Nick is quite stunned to see the size of it.  
It's a rather large structure, looking more like a country hotel then a house.  
I don't know what he was expecting, I told him before that I have a large family.  
Well into the hundreds I remember telling him.

When we finally arrived I grabbed our suitcases and dash into the house as fast as I can.  
I sprinted up the stairs and into my old room sliding suitcases under the bed.  
I pause for a moment to look around. Everything is exactly as it was when I left.  
But another thought creeps in, perhaps I should leave Nick alone by parents for too long.

So with that, I dart back down the stairs and into the living room just as the coming in the door.  
My parents immediately question me about why I dashed into the house  
looking like a gray blurt to despite having two full suitcases in tow.  
Nick begins to exclaim that, that was rather slow for me, and now he seen me run 10 times faster than that after a shoplifter.

But while Nick is setting himself up to tell a story, I grab his paw and  
state that I am going to show him around the farm.  
I wanted to get him out of there before my younger siblings woke up, and engulfed him like a tsunami me of bunnies.  
As much as I think it be adorable to see that, and much rather have him all to myself.

I bring Nick far out into the farm, much further than any of my siblings will go, to a very nice tree on a little hill.  
The tree and hill look out over where we grow the blueberries.  
Unfortunately the bushes don't have any berries on them at this time of year.

Nonetheless, Nick and I enjoy each other's company in the shade of the tree.  
We talk and cuddle, till about noon when we start getting hungry.  
We hop up, but before we leave. I push Nick against the tree, and press my lips to his.  
We stay locked like this for almost a minute, in the deepest most passionate kiss we've ever shared.  
We ended the deep gaze into each others eyes, before heading back.

When we start to get in range of the house, many of my siblings spot us.  
With one outcry. "There she is!" One of my younger siblings yells out, pointing towards us.  
And in an instant, we are swarmed. A tidal wave of little bunny hugs washes over us.  
I greet and hug every single one, remembering each of them by name to Nick's surprise.

After my siblings went off to go play, Nick and I get the keys to the truck and head into town to grab a bite to eat.  
While were out, I also take the opportunity to show him around town.  
We just grab some fast food and eat in the truck.  
Once we we're done chowing down, I begin the tour.

I took him all over the place, showing him where I went to school, all the places  
me and my siblings hung out, and I decide to the tour with a stop at the  
best baked goods stores in the triboroughs.

We step in and plus sized fox rushes from the back at hearing the bells on the door ring.  
Gideon's face lights up as he yelps. "Judy! I didn't know you were back in town."  
He turns his attention to Nick before asking what he can do for us.  
Before I can reply, he looks back and forth at us a few times.  
"Whoa." He states, almost stunned.

Our concern is my head around to peer out the window, yet nothing seems out of the ordinary.  
Nick appears to be just as confused as I, but upon returning my attention to Gideon, I make a connection, hoping I'm wrong.  
The next words out of his mouth confirm. Not sure what he saw, or what connections he made, but he accurately pegs us as a couple.  
I find myself begging him not to tell anyone, and nervously rambling about how I'm not embarrassed, I just don't want my family to know just yet.  
And how I'm planning on telling him at dinner.  
I try to continue rambling, but Nick calms me down, and Gideon reassures me that he won't speak a word of it.

I think him, before buying a blueberry pie for Nick.  
On the ride back to my parents house, I give Nick a spoon and tell them that  
if he doesn't eat it now that it will disappear once it gets in the house.

We get back just in time for dinner. The pie I got for Nick, only a memory.  
We get in the house and are greeted by the siblings that were out working at the time I greeted my other siblings.  
Just pleasantries, hellos how do you do's and pawshakes.  
Once finally at the table, I feel a bit more worried.

It's flooded with conversation, but Nick and I mostly engage with my parents.  
A few updates about what's been going on around home, but mostly questions about what Nick and I do on the force.  
It's a while longer before the crowd at the table begins the thin.  
Once the thinning has gotten to the point where I'm comfortable, I give Nick a look that says; now is the time.

Nick immediately drops his fork, and dives under the table after it.  
I'm not sure if it was on purpose or not, but I wait for him to return before getting my parents  
attention, and the pawful of my siblings that still remain at the table. Nick regresses to a petrified  
state, as my eyes leave him, and turn to my parents who are sitting across the table from us.  
"Mom, dad. There's something I'd like to tell you."

I try to come out and say it but, I find the words heavier than when I had rehearsed this moment in my head, over and over again.  
I quickly glance to Nick who is still stiff as a board, hoping for some re-encouragement, but I find none.  
I return my attention to my parents once more, who are still sitting patiently waiting for me to speak.

"Is something wrong, bun bun?" My mother asks with concern.

"No." I respond. I then take a deep breath, deciding to just throw it out there. "Nick and I are dating!" I blurt out, causing what little conversation there was at the table, to cease.  
I continue staring unblinkingly at my parents, waiting for them to say something, but they just stare unblinkingly back.  
I quickly turn my attention to Nick, who has finally summoned up his courage, by confirming.  
I then continued to tell them about why I've been so exhausted. Tell them about the nighthowever case, the nightmares and the worrying.

I almost break down the dinner table explaining my fears. If Nick wasn't here, I'm certain I would have.  
My parents see Nick comforting me, my mother states that she's happy that I found someone.  
Many of my siblings share the same's sentiments. I filled me with joy to know that they are happy for me.

After hugging everyone, Nick and I retired to my room.  
As we lay in my old bed, I begin listening to the old sounds of my room, and missing the sounds of the city.  
I take comfort in hearing Nick's shallow breathing, as his chest pushes and recedes against my back, and his arms wrapped around my torso.  
As I drift closer to unconsciousness, my mind relaxes and begins to play out the same event over and over.

Me staring into the toxic lime green eyes of that arctic wolf, focusing more and more on that moment when I pushed through the fear, and demanded to know what he wanted.  
Impressive, impressive, impressive. The word keeps repeating over and over in my head in the short moments before I fall asleep.  
I can picture it so clearly, as if it were only a moment ago, or almost as clearly. For at the moment I hear; impressive. I'm looking directly at his face, yet his lips did not move.  
I must be misremembering the event, so I decide to push it out of my mind, and drift off to sleep. However it did not prevent it from returning the next night, and the next, and the next.

When the morning of our fourth day rolls around, Nick and I grab breakfast as we have done previous days, which is a  
assortment of vegetables with some toast on the side, and an orange. Even though Nick would prefer blueberries.

Nonetheless we settle in front of the TV, and flip to the news channel.  
The first words that blasts from it are. "That's right! The third bank robbery in two days." One of the news anchor starts.  
They continue explaining; how the alarms did not sound during or after the robbery, and it was only due to someone calling 911 that the ZPD was finally alerted.

Another news anchor comes on talking about how the ZPD is stretched thin. And at that moment Nick and I glance at each other.  
My expression filled with urgency and a drive to return to duty, but Nick's is filled with concern.

Nick and I argue for a few moments, his argument centered around; "You still need more rest."  
To which I staunchly disagree. I feel well rested, and ready to return to active-duty.  
However Nick still urges me to stay longer, even trying to rope my parents into convincing me to stay.  
After a half hour of arguing and pleading, Nick finally admits defeat.  
On the train ride I call a taxi service, so that one would be waiting for us at the station when we arrive.

We return to our apartment as fast as possible, and with haste get into our uniforms, before heading straight to the precinct.  
As we pull into the parking lot, we find that most of the squad cars are gone. We have never seen the parking lot this empty before, It's almost surreal.  
We head in side to find Bogo riled up and almost yelling at Clawhauser. "Just get the first available officer on this." We hear him bark.  
Bogo then turns to find us approaching them.

"Excellent, you two are back early." He says in a tone composed of frustration and satisfaction.  
"Clawhauser, give them the case folder, and tell them what they need to know!" He says, storming off in the direction of the bullpen.  
"But sir!" I call out trying to get his attention to ask about mine and Nick's partner status.  
But he continues to storm off out of sight.

"Aumm." Clawhauser says, bringing her attention to him.  
"It seems relatively straightforward." He states in a stiff tone, extending his Paw to give us a case folder.  
Even Clawhauser seems off. I think to myself, taking the folder from his trembling paw.  
I was expecting him to at least ask how the vacation went.  
Instead of the usual friendly cheerful cheetah we've known for the past year and a half.  
We have a cheetah that seems to be scared half to death.

"Clawhauser, are you okay?" I ask gently.

"Oh me? phf Yeah, I'm fine." He says trying to return to his usual cheery self.

"Look buddy." Nick says, in a calm soothing voice. "It's obvious that somethings up, where your friends."

"You didn't hear?" Clawhauser states, seemingly surprised at our lack of knowing.

"We just got back at 11:23." I state. Clawhauser darts his head in the direction Bogo went, before turning his attention to us.

"There was a second bank robbery this morning, just after the news reported on the first one."  
He states, curling his fingers around the corner of his desk, attempting to pull himself closer to us.  
"Officer Michorn was dropping off a check before he came to the precinct, when they hit."  
He says widening his eyes, as if in disbelief at his own words.

"Is he all right?" I ask frantically, fearing the worst.

"If he wasn't a Rhino-" Ben pauses for a moment, fighting a catch in his throat.  
"H-he wouldn't have survive the, s-shot." He says, with the trembling in his voice more apparent now than it had been before.  
My heart appears to fill with ice, at the mere thought of one of my fellow officers being shot. What if it had been Nick. No. I can't think like that.  
"His tough skin, saved him." He continues, trying to regain control of his voice, but inevitably failing.  
It's no surprise that out of all the officers, ben would be the most upset. He knows every officer, at every precinct in the city.

"Don't worry Clawhauser, where on this." I say with the same can-do attitude I'm known for, clutching the file in my paws.

"What squad cars are available?" Nick asks, taking a step towards the desk.

Clawhauser then disappears underneath his desk, before replying."36, 23, 44 and 105."  
I see Nick recoil at the mention of squad car 105. For it is the one with the broken air-conditioner.

"We'll take 23." I state confidently, remembering that it had just had maintenance done the week before last.  
Clawhauser then disappears underneath the desk once more, and returns with the key, which he tosses to Nick.  
However I leap, snatching it out of the air before Nick had even realized that it had been tossed to him.

Nick and I returned to the parking lot, which seems to have become more sparse than it had been when we arrived.  
Part of me is grateful that we are spared the hunt for the squad car we have the key to.  
The memories of Nick and I prowling up and down the rows of cars, is my least favorite of the past few months.

We quickly spot squad car 23, but before we can take a step towards it, I hear Nick's stomach growl.  
And with another quick glance, we decide on the diner.

End part #8

I apologize for how long it took me to come out with this chapter.  
It's been hard to find the drive as of late.  
However I am still committed to finishing this little fanfiction 100%.

I would also like to apologize if there were more mistakes that I missed in this chapter.


	9. The suspect

The suspect

(Judy POV)

On the drive to the diner, I find myself thinking: What if it had been Nick?  
I try with all my might to push it out of my mind, but it pushes right back.  
Every so often I glance at Nick, who is unaware of the battle taking place within my  
head, as he glances out the window, seemingly deep in his own thoughts.

My thoughts continue to rage and swirl, the thought of losing him, almost unbearable.  
Thinking of it in this moment, I feel as if I would never be right again, that I'd be broken, like Volin.  
Volin. That poor Wolf, I could see it in his eyes.  
He puts on a brave face, but that day we found the illegal weapons.  
I saw beneath his mask, and the shattered heart he hides beneath.  
Part of me is still wondering, who else was in the car?  
Because he did say _them_ after all.

This line of thinking isn't helping, I need to think of something else, anything else.  
Finally my stomach growls, pulling my mind from the dark place that it had been.  
It feels as if a weight has lifted off of my heart.  
Yet something still doesn't feel right. Usually when I think forward to the diner's salad, my mouth begins to water.  
Maybe it's just because I have a lot on my mind. I'm sure I'll feel differently once I have it in front of me.  
I'm mostly hoping, but part of me feels that it won't be the case.

I'm then snapped from my thoughts by a knock at my window, followed by.  
"Are you coming, Carrots?" In a voice I recognize as Nick's.  
After a quick check of my surroundings, I find the passenger seat lacking one Nick.  
Under even further examination, I find the squad car parked in a parking place at the diner.  
"You okay, Carrots?" Nick asks, as I hop out of the squad car.  
More then a little freak that I completely spaced while driving.

I find myself wanting to reply that I'm fine.  
But after a moments thought, I decide that I'm not going to be one of those animals.  
One of those animals that replies I'm fine, even though they're far from it.

So reluctantly I admit that I zoned out. Nick is quick to ask, what's going on?  
I give him a quick rundown, as we walk from the squad car to the diner.  
And before I can open the door to the diner, Nick pulls me behind the decorative hedges in front of the diner.  
The hedges are almost right up against the wall of the diner, hiding us from view.  
I fear he's gonna lecture me about returning to active-duty so early, and cutting our vacation short.  
I'm fearing the worst when Nick unexpectedly gives me a hug, and kisses me on my four head.  
"We'll be okay, Carrots." He says to me gently, while we look into each others eyes.

After another hug, we make our way into the diner, and find our booth empty as always, seemingly waiting for just us.  
But it's only because Nick and I are the only two regulars that can even fit in the booth.  
Nick and I take our seats just across from each other, and he plops the case folder Clawhauser gave us on the table.  
I'm about to ask Nick where he was keeping that, when May arrives at the booth.

She starts by listing off what we usually order, including the change I made last time.  
Nick this time, thinks to ask how she remembers our orders.  
She replies with a chuckle, before stating.  
"How can I not remember the orders of the Bunny Fox, cop, power couple!"  
Nick and I glance at each other, both of us thinking that, maybe we're not as  
good at keeping our relationship a secret as we thought we were.  
A bit embarrassed, we both reply "Oh."

After watching May disappear behind the counter, I return my attention to Nick.  
Whose face I find to be obscured by the case file. He carefully pulls the  
folder away from his face, revealing an expression of fear.  
I ask him what's wrong, but rather than reply, he turns the file around  
pointing to the image in the upper right corner. Immediately my heart is  
pierced with fear at seeing the bright lime green eyes, surrounded by snowy white fur.  
I almost gassep, thinking immediately of Michael. But I push through the fear, and look more closely at the image.

I now see that it's not a Wolf's face at all, but that of a Fox's. And despite the eyes being lime green, they appear hurt, and worried.  
His face also appears to be thinner than a normal fox's face, like he's malnourished.  
I take the file from Nick, and begin to read it.

I start by reading the suspect's name and age: Jolten Maro, age 22.  
I almost skip over the next part listing his species, but I'm glad that I paid attention to it.  
Something I've only ever seen a pawfull of times, whether it's two or three different species.  
It always indicating that the individual is hybrid. In this case, half wolf, and half Fox.  
I'm always excited to meet hybrids, because I'm always interested to see how the two species mix together.  
However in this case it shouldn't be too interesting, the two species look very similar.

Moving past my excitement I continue reading.  
The next bit of info the file details is about the various jobs that he's been doing for the city.  
The jobs that are listed are rather surprising for someone of his age.  
Most of them having to do with some kind of security system, even rebuilding them from I'm reading here.

He's even designed new firmware for the massive climate control system for TundraTown.  
I'm very surprised that he's even allowed to be close to that thing.  
Not even chief Bogo can go into that facility without being accompanied by security.  
And here he is designing new firmware for the thing.

The next bit of information I heard about on the news, however I did not know who was involved with creating it.  
On the news everyone was happy to hear about the new cellular networking system the city had someone design.  
According to this, Jolten is the individual solely responsible for designing the whole thing.  
He even led the team that installed it throughout the city.

The only other thing on this page to read is sticky note.  
Usually they just have some mundane information, so I ignore it for now.  
I turn the page to get more information about the suspect, but find only  
transcripts of interviews with the team he led to install the cellular system.

I then begin flipping through the pages skimping through paragraph after  
paragraph, looking for any mention as to why he is our primary suspect.  
A little fact that's been outlined several times within this folder, but no reason as to why.  
Even the entirely pawwritten page by chief Bogo didn't outline as to why.

I'm beginning to get frustrated, and about ready to give up seeing as our food should be done soon.  
On a whim however, I turn my attention to the sticky note on the first page.  
I originally disregard them because it's usually something mundane or added last-minute.  
However this one after examining it for more than a half a second, is in chief Bogo's pawwriting.

I guess I should feel a bit weird that I didn't notice it before.  
The chief is the only one at the station that even writes in cursive. I find myself liking the  
change, it's better than the usual shaky pawwriting I see on these notes.  
However short than it may be, simply stating that, he is responsible for designing a new security  
system for every bank that's been hit thus far.

"I'm a dumb bunny." I exclaim out loud, annoyed with myself for ignoring such a key piece of information.  
Nick who had been quietly reading the menu, even though he never  
orders anything other than the fish paddy cheese burger. Immediately puts his focus on me.  
"No you're not." He replies in a way that sounds like he's correcting me, as he sits his menu to the side.  
He asks me what led me to call myself a dumb bunny.

So I point to the sticky note, and informing him that this little bit of  
information is why I went to the whole file. Nick trying to make me feel  
better, states that the sticky notes usually just have mundane  
information, and are never critical to the case.

However his attempt only proceeds to annoy. I'm about to open my mouth to exclaim that I already  
knew that, but I'm cut off by the sound of ceramic plates clinking against the table.  
I turn my attention to May to thinker before she goes to attend another table.  
I then turn my attention back to Nick, who is still focused on me.

Thanks to May's interruption giving me a few more seconds to reflect.  
I find myself surprised at my reaction to Nick, he was just trying to make me feel better.  
In that moment, I wasn't thinking clearly, and I would have immediately regretted my hostility.  
I almost want to go and thanked May for interrupting when she did.  
I begin to feel my emotions swelling in my chest, pushing their way up.

I take a deep breath and push them back down. I'm beginning to get a bit  
worried at having two strong emotional reactions like that.  
I decide that rather than getting caught up worrying about my  
emotional state, I should focus on my job. I can always talk to Nick  
about this when we're off-duty.

I then turn my attention to my salad, now sitting in front of me, but I still don't find it as appetizing as I usually do.  
After thinking about it for a moment, I realized that my stomach feels a bit weird.  
I shouldn't really be that surprised, I've had quite a lot on my mind since I got back to Zootopia.  
Part of my mind presents to me as an explanation, one that I accept.

Especially with the biggest thing on my mind being about Nick and I remaining as partners on the force.  
I was expecting the Chief to say something about it when we saw him at the precinct.  
I was thinking that he would assign me and Nick different partners for sure.  
Suddenly my thoughts are derailed by something I find to be utterly surprising.

The smell of Nick's fish burger had crept its way over the time I was thinking, however I don't find it repulsing.  
In fact it almost smells, good. I find it more than a little strange, but for now I'm just happy that I'm so used to the smell now.  
As I begin to eat my salad, I flip open the file, and begin to read the interviews.  
They mostly talk about how nice Jolten is, and how he mostly keeps to himself.

However I do find two interviews particularly interesting.  
The first being from another hybrid that's worked with Jolten on one prior project.  
To my dismay the project name is covered up by a black line.  
But he does mention that he met Jolten at a kind of meet up for hybrids.  
Not something relevant to the case, but interesting that hybrids have little meet ups.

The second one noting an incident where Jolten passed out while working.  
The individual states that he drove him to the hospital.  
But nothing else of the incident is brought up in any other interviews.

I continued reading through the file, taking a bite after every paragraph.  
I finally get to the end of the interviews, and get to the completely pawwritten page by Chief Bogo.  
It's mostly just a list of important questions to ask Jolten, but a paragraph at the bottom has me a bit worried.  
Simply stating that, thanks to a CI, we know he also does work for private individuals.  
Most notably stating that he's supposedly done a job for Mr. Big.  
Nick is very doubtful of that statement, stating that Mr. Big doesn't trust computers.

I finish eating, and find myself rereading a few of the interviews.  
However I close the file after hearing Nick trying to get the last of the soda from the bottom  
of his glass. We then split the bill as we always do, and return to our squad car.

On the drive to the suspect's apartment, Nick begins to read the rest of the file to me.  
I take a quick glance and when he audibly expresses interest in something in the file.  
"Listen to this." Nick says before reading the important information out of the file.  
"To help undercover cops deal with more tech savvy criminals.  
Jolten Maro supplied the ZPD with 25 completely untraceable cellular phones."  
I glance at Nick, whose expression seems puzzled as to why I don't find the  
information is interesting as he does.

After a moment my eyes widen. The connection being made.  
Now on the same page, I glance back at Nick.  
Our eyes only meet for a moment, but he seems more than sure.

After a few more moments of driving we arrive at a plain but ornate building, easily dwarfed by the others around it.  
Upon entering the building we find a reception desk, however it appears not to have been  
used for quite some time, judging by the amount of dust on it.  
Nonetheless Nick presses the bell resting on the desk, but after hearing it barely make a sound.  
We glance at each other and come to the conclusion that no one is back there.

Nick and I scour the lobby and hallways trying to find the elevator, but when  
we do, we find the dreaded out of order sign taped to the door.  
However we find the door to the stairwell just around the corner.  
Nick and I pull open the rather heavy door, but immediately let it slam back shut.  
Neither of us were prepared to be bombarded with such a horrid foul odor, leading us to  
believe that the stairwell had been used for a toilet at some point.

From the very brief view of the stairwell that we got, there does not appear to be any waste or garbage of any kind.  
But when there had been, it was there for so long, that the stink had seeped into the walls and floor.

However we need to get to Jolten's apartment.  
So Nick and I close our noses, open the door once more, and push through the smell to the ninth floor.  
All the while hoping that the stink doesn't seep into our clothing.  
After the long climb up the stairwell, we find ourselves on the ninth floor and outside of Jolten's apartment.  
We take a moment to relish in the clean air, taking in deep breaths.  
I then step up and knock on the door. After a moment, it carefully  
opens, stopped only by a safety chain preventing it from opening fully.

A figure becomes visible through the crack, and bright lime green eyes peer out.  
The unnaturally colored eyes still making me feel uneasy. Nonetheless, I begin to speak.  
"Jolten Maro?" I ask gently, trying not to let my uneasiness work its way into my voice.

"That's me. Can I help you?" He responds with a soft voice, seemingly worried  
that two police officers have shown up at his door.

"I'm officer Hopps, and this is my partner officer Wilde."

"Yea, I know who you two are." He states informatively. "You two are like, the two most  
famous cops in Zootopia. I mean even Gazelle knows who you are."  
Nick and I glance at each other, before Nick asks.  
"Where just here to ask you a few questions. May we come in?"

"Sure." He says gently before shutting the door.  
We then hear the chain slide, and the door opens once more, revealing the suspect to be shirtless, wearing only a pair of shorts.  
"Just come in and make yourselves at home, I'll go grab a shirt." He says before turning, revealing a pale orange stripe  
that runs from the top of his neck, down his spine, and stopping before it reaches his tail.  
It appears that he had bleached it before, but has since stopped.

Once we step into the apartment, it opens up before us. Like we had been in  
some cramped box before stepping outside. The view through the massive window  
of the central district is not only breathtaking. But somehow makes the already  
large apartment feel even bigger.

I turn my attention back to the suspect, as his snowy white body is enveloped by a red sea of velvet.  
I look up to see that the curtain is anchored to a loft just above the area the suspect went into.  
Nick points out a sectional sitting in the middle of the apartment, and we begin making our way to it.  
The view out of the window appears to get larger as we approach it.  
Once Nick and I about to take our seats, I noticed something with the window.  
It was just a slight thing, but nonetheless I noticed it.

I dart up to it, taking a closer look, and find a mesh over the entire window.  
I grab my phone and take a quick picture, and at the same time  
notice that I don't have a signal in here. I'm more than a little concerned this, especially  
since they're supposed to be complete coverage over the entire city.  
I even remember having a signal outside the building when I checked to see if we had the right place.

Nonetheless I put my phone away, and return to the sectional.  
Upon turning around I've noticed the kitchen for the first time.  
The reason I did notice it before, is because there's a wall between it and the interest.  
It looks incredibly out of place in this old apartment, appearing to be brand-new.  
And now looking at the apartment from this angle, it appears that it wasn't meant to be lived in.

I turn my head to the large curtain, noticing that it had moved.  
After a few seconds Jolten emerges wearing a light gray shirt.  
He apologizes for being indecent, as he put it, before taking a  
seat on the sectional, as far away from us as he possibly can.

I find myself staring at his eyes. For not only are the unnaturally colored, but are unnaturally bright as well.  
I think back to his image in the file, trying to remember if his eyes were this bright in that picture.  
After summoning the image into my head, I recall that they were not this bright.  
And come to think of it, he's also not as thin as he was when the picture was taken.  
I also notice a cloth band around his wrist. The only reason I find it of any  
interest, is that it appears to have something underneath it.

I start by asking him if he knows why were here, to which he replies with a simple no.  
Nick and I glance at each other while he states that he hasn't been following the news as of late.  
Nick opens his mouth to speak, but pauses for a moment when Jolten suddenly appears petrified.

Nick tries to inform him, but only gets to the part about the four bank robberies.  
His expression turns to concern, but quickly changes to annoyance, and even anger.  
"No no no no no, that's not possible! You'd have to be-"  
He pauses midsentence before apologizing. He then darts over the sectional and through the curtain.  
We were expecting for him to be that fast, and barely had any time to react to where he was going.

Upon making our way through the curtain, we're met with chilling air. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dark.  
As I'm slowly able to make More and more, I noticed a workstation to the right, with something underneath a sheet on a worktable.  
After seeing some motion towards the left, I turn my attention to it, and see Nick is already walking in that direction.  
Suddenly a bunch of computer monitors come to life, illuminating Jolten now sitting in an office chair in front of them.

A few of the monitors are blank desktops, but the rest are code that he appears to be working on.  
He mainly focuses on the center display, which switches to a overview of the city after a moment.  
Nick pulls my attention to a another set up, just to the right of the monitors.  
We try to get a closer look at it, but it turns off. It had a lot of horizontal zigzagging lines on it, much like an EKG.  
upon turning my attention back to Jolten, I see the reason as to why this part of the apartment is so cold.  
It needs to be cold so that the six server towers that the monitors are connected to, don't overheat.

Now standing just behind Jolten, I begin asking what he's doing.  
He barely seems to register our presence, the only indication I got that he even heard me, was his ear swiveling in our direction.  
He then turns his head to look at us for a moment before apologizing.  
"I-I'm sorry officers. Thanks for bringing this to my attention." He returns his focus back to the monitors before continuing.  
"I don't mean to push you out before you've finished asking your questions, but I really need to work."  
He states with a certain urgency. "I'll call you if I find anything." He states carefully.

"Whoa whoa whoa." Nick exclaims. "We haven't started asking you any questions."  
Jolten's ears appear to lay flat against his head as he turns to look at us.  
He apologizes, but insists that he needs to get to work if somebody's hacked into the security system he designed.  
We convince him to answer a few questions, two the Chief wanted us to ask, and one of my own.

Throughout the first two questions, he proclaimed his innocence. Stating that he would never  
be involved with any kind of criminal activity whatsoever. Nick tries to state, even for money.  
To which he informs us of the amount of money he gets paid for the jobs he does.  
The amount completely eliminating money as a motive.

Nonetheless I continue with my question.  
I express my curiosity about why there is so little information about the security system he designed for the banks.  
To which he replies that the program and the technology it runs on are both deemed classified, and whoever  
informed us about it could be in serious trouble.

Nick and I express our concern to each other with a glance, before I state that  
we'll no longer take up any more of his time. He assures us again that he will call us if he finds anything.  
We then make our way out of the apartment. Once in the hallway we make her way around  
the building, and sure enough find a service elevator. It's far more pleasant than taking that horrid stairwell.

On the ride down Nick asks if I saw the empty IV on its rack near the worktable.  
Which I reply with a no, and state that it was too dark in there for me to see things clearly.  
Once we get off the elevator we navigate our way to the hallways, and find ourselves back in the lobby.  
As we approach the exit, a tall animal wearing a trenchcoat appears to take notice of our  
squad car, as she appears to make her way into the building.

She keeps her eyes on the squad car as she pushes her way through the doors.  
Having our suspicions as to who it is we both cross our arms and wait for them.  
When she finally gets through the door, she turns, and immediately locks eyes with us.  
She seems more than surprised, however, we are not.  
"Hello, Kai." Nick says with a tone usually reserved for teenagers sneaking in late.

End part #9


End file.
